On this day in 1993, the tiny city of Aurangabad saw a horrific crash. One which was totally avoidable. IC491, operating from Delhi to Mumbai via Jaipur, Udaipur & Aurangabad, crashed within minutes of take-off killing 55 and injuring many others.
VT-ECQ (B737-200) was the aircraft involved. The aircraft was heavy and the conditions hot as the aircraft took off from runway 09. It was very low due to late rotation.
There was a road right next to the perimeter fence of the runway.
A heavily laden truck was crossing
Left MLG impacted the truck and the aircraft veered into high tention wires and crashing a few kilometres from the airport in empty fields.
The aircraft caught fire yet the crew managed to evacuate many !

A long enquiry later, it was termed as pilot error
Subsequently, the runway was extended at Aurangabad, the road next to the airport closed and additional safety measures put in place at all airports which have a road next to perimeter or on approach.
But these measures were late for IC491 as it crashed on that fateful day
A story appeared in the newspapers subsequently amd was true.
The truck which was hit by the plane stopped there & police reached the spot. These were pre-mobile days and the police took the truck driver to the police station & made him call the owner of the truck
The truck driver told that the owner that there has been an accident and the truck hit the plane.
The owner yelled at the truck driver for drinking early in the morning and cut the call.
The police had to call the truck owner & tell again after which the owner rushed
The truck was also overloaded, with cotton and carried more than the capacity by volume - a problem prevalent on roads even today.

After years, the DGCA now has a scan copy of this investigation on its website for those interested in finer details
I then resided in Aurangabad & had never heard of a crash before. Never knew planes can fall from the sky and this had given me a reality check as a kid of what aviation is all about. If anything, it only increased my curiosity towards planes and aviation
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