LolitaErurf at 23:11, 19 February 2026

2026-02-19T23:11:56Z

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{{Short description|1950 aviation accident in France}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| name = Air India Flight 245
| occurrence_type = Accident
| image = Air India Lockheed L-749A Constellation VT-CQP.jpg
| image_upright = 1.05
| alt =
| caption = VT-CQP, the aircraft involved in the accident, in 1949
| date = {{start date|1950|11|03|df=y}}
| summary = [[Controlled flight into terrain]] in poor weather
| site = [[Mont Blanc]], France
| coordinates = 
| plane1_alt = Air India Lockheed L-749A Constellation VT-CQP.jpg
| aircraft_type = [[Lockheed L-749 Constellation|Lockheed L-749A Constellation]]
| aircraft_name = ''Malabar Princess''
| operator = [[Air India]]
| plane1_IATA = AI245
| plane1_ICAO = AIC245
| plane1_callsign = AIRINDIA 245
| tail_number = VT-CQP
| origin = [[Sahar International Airport]], [[Bombay]], India
| stopover0 = [[Cairo International Airport]], [[Cairo]], Egypt
| stopover1 = [[Cointrin Airport]], [[Geneva]], Switzerland
| destination = London [[Heathrow Airport]], [[London]], United Kingdom
| occupants = 48
| passengers = 40
| crew = 8
| fatalities = 48
| survivors = 0
}}

'''Air India Flight 245''' was a scheduled [[Air India]] [[passenger flight]] from Bombay to London via Cairo and Geneva. On the morning of 3 November 1950, the [[Lockheed L-749 Constellation|Lockheed L-749A Constellation]] serving the flight crashed into [[Mont Blanc]], France, while approaching Geneva. All 48 aboard were killed.

The plane operating the flight was named ''Malabar Princess'', [[Aircraft registration|registered]] as VT-CQP. It was [[Pilot (aviation)|piloted]] by [[captain (aviation)|Captain]] Alan R. Saint, 34, and [[First officer (aviation)|co-pilot]] V. Y. Korgaokar and was carrying 40 passengers and 8 crew. The flight navigator was Raghuram Iyengar, a resident of Matunga, Mumbai. While over France, descending towards [[Geneva Airport]], the flight crashed into the [[French Alps]] in stormy weather, killing all on board.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ghmorel.free.fr/malpag/synus.html |title=MALABAR PRINCESS |accessdate=17 June 2009}}</ref><ref name="montblanc">{{cite web|url=http://www.montblanc.to/uk/glacier/texte4.html |title=The "Malabar Princess" Catastrophe |accessdate=17 June 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620064252/http://www.montblanc.to/uk/glacier/texte4.html |archivedate=20 June 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="AS">{{cite news |url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19501103-0 |title=Accident description |accessdate=17 June 2009 |publisher=Aviation Safety}}</ref>

==Accident==
[[File:Flight Air India 245 route.png|thumb|AI 245 flight route]]
The airplane hit the face of the [[Rocher de la Tournette]] at a height of {{convert|4677|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, on the French side of Mont Blanc.<ref name="montblanc"/> Stormy weather prevented immediate rescue efforts; debris was located by a Swiss plane on 5 November, and rescue parties reached the site two days later.<ref name="montblanc"/> There were no survivors. The last transmission from the aircraft, received by [[air traffic control|controllers]] at [[Grenoble]] and Geneva, was "I am vertical with [[Voiron]], at 4700 meters altitude." at 10:43 a.m.

== Aftermath ==
[[File:Monument Malabar Princess Kanchenjunga Refuge du Nid d'Aigle English text.jpg|thumb|left|English text of the monument at {{ill|refuge du Nid d'Aigle|fr}} in [[Mont-Blanc Massif]]]]Some mail on board the flight was recovered after the accident and was annotated with "Retardé par suite d'accident aérien" ("delayed due to aviation accident"); further items of mail were found in 1951 and 1952.

On 8 June 1978, a patrol of the French mountain police found letters and a sack at the foot of the [[Bossons Glacier]]. Recovered were 57 envelopes and 55 letters (without envelopes) and all but eight letters were forwarded to their original addressees.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Muir |first=Douglas N. |title=Letters Freed from a Glacier after 28 Years |magazine=[[Stamp Collecting (magazine)|Stamp Collecting]] |volume=131 |number=10 |date=26 October 1978 |page=1051}}</ref> Sixteen years after the accident, [[Air India Flight 101]] crashed in almost exactly the same spot under similar circumstances.<ref name="airwhiners">{{cite news |last=Mendis |first=Sean |date=26 July 2004 |url=http://www.airwhiners.net/whine_cheez/20040726.htm |title=Air India: The story of the aircraft fleet|website=Airwhiners.net |accessdate=24 January 2026}}</ref>

In 2008 one of the engines from the crashed flight was discovered. In September 2013, a climber discovered a cache of jewelry that is believed to have been aboard one of these two flights.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mysterious cache of jewels turns up atop French glacier |first1=Michael |last1=Pearson |first2=Saskya |last2=Vandoorne |publisher=CNN|date=26 September 2013 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/26/world/europe/france-mountain-jewels/index.html?hpt=hp_t2}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==

* ''Malabar Princess'', the name of the aircraft involved in the incident, served as the inspiration for the title of the 2025 album of the same name by Swiss singer [[Vendredi sur Mer]].<ref>{{Cite web |title='J'avais juste besoin de rentrer chez moi' : Vendredi sur Mer évoque son mal du pays, à l'origine de son nouvel album - RTBF Actus |url=https://www.rtbf.be/article/j-avais-juste-besoin-de-rentrer-chez-moi-vendredi-sur-mer-evoque-son-mal-du-pays-a-l-origine-de-son-nouvel-album-11539855 |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=RTBF |language=fr}}</ref>
{{clr|left}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Lockheed Constellation family}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in France between 1950 and 1999}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1950}}
{{Air India}}

{{coord|45|49|59|N|6|51|35|E|type:airport_source:kolossus-itwiki|display=title}}

[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in France]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1950]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed Constellation]]
[[Category:Mont Blanc]]
[[Category:Air India accidents and incidents|245]]
[[Category:1950 in France]]
[[Category:November 1950 in Europe]]

Air India Flight 245 - Revision history

LolitaErurf at 23:11, 19 February 2026