Former PM Morarji Desai’s Miraculous Escape From the 1977 Jorhat Air Crash

New Delhi: The fatal crash of a chartered aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar near Baramati Airport early Wednesday has once again drawn attention to the unforgiving nature of aviation disasters. 

The aircraft, which took off from Mumbai around 8:10 am and was scheduled to land at Baramati at 8:50 am, went down during its final approach roughly 45 minutes later, killing all five people on board. Ajit Pawar was reportedly travelling to attend a Zilla Parishad event in Baramati and was scheduled to return to Mumbai later the same day. 

One such moment dates back nearly five decades to the Jorhat air accident of 1977, when then Prime Minister Morarji Desai survived a devastating plane crash that killed five crew members.

The 1977 Jorhat crash that shook India

A Russian-built Tupolev Tu 124 aircraft took off from Delhi’s Palam Airport for Jorhat, Assam, carrying Prime Minister Morarji Desai on an official visit to the Northeast. As the aircraft attempted to land in the evening, it suddenly gained altitude instead of touching down. 

Within seconds, the runway lights disappeared from view, followed by a violent impact as the plane overshot the runway and crashed far from the airstrip. The force of the crash caused the cockpit to break away from the fuselage. 

Two pilots and three crew members lost their lives, making it one of the most serious aviation accidents involving a serving Indian Prime Minister. Morarji Desai, then 81 years old, was pulled out of the wreckage and moved to safety. 
For security reasons, the Prime Minister was later shifted to a nearby house.

Morarji Desai, who served as India’s fourth prime minister from 1977 to 1979, was the first leader to head a non-Congress government, leading the Janata Party coalition.

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