
August 1957 to September 1963
Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC)
VT-DIO - c/n 192 - a V.768D series Viscount
India registered
1955
An order for five Type 768D were placed by Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC).
This was the 1st aircraft delivered to IAC.
Production Aircraft No. 210 - the 210th production 700 series Viscount built,
was the 161st Viscount fuselage assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England,
and the 165th Viscount assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
Stock Order No. F23/32B. Production Order No. F01/768. Sales Order No. F01/86B.
10 February 1957
Fuselage assembly commenced at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
10 April 1957
Fuselage to Erecting Shop 'E' at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
30 July 1957
First flight from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
8 August 1957
Acceptance test flight successfully carried out under contract by Hunting-Clan Chief Flying Instructor Brian Alexander Powell which lasted for 40 minutes.
12 and 14 August 1957
Training flights of IAC crews carried out under the contract guidance of Hunting-Clan Chief Flying Instructor Brian Alexander Powell at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England.
15 August 1957
Officially handed over to Mrs Pandit, Indian High Commissioner to London in a ceremony at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England.
It had English titles on the port side of the fuselage and Hindi script on the starboard side.
IAC crew training flights continued at Blackbushe, Hurn and London Airport, all under the contract guidance of Hunting-Clan Chief Flying Instructor Brian Alexander Powell.
18 September 1957
Departed from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England on delivery to India under the contract guidance of Hunting-Clan Chief Flying Instructor Brian Alexander Powell and IAC Captain Jang.
It routed via Rome, Italy (3 hr 25 min) - Beirut, Lebanon (2 hr 40 min) - Bahrain (3 hr 55 min) - Karachi, Pakistan (3 hr 55 min).
20 September 1957
Arrived at Safdarjung Airport, Delhi, India on delivery to Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC) named as 'Madhya Pradesh' in a 44 seat configuration.
It had English titles on the port side and Hindi script on the starboard side.
24 September 1957
Commenced IAC crew training flights out of Delhi under the contract guidance of Hunting-Clan Chief Flying Instructor Brian Alexander Powell.
28 September 1957
Commenced route proving flights across India and also Rangoon, Burma under the contract guidance of Hunting-Clan Chief Flying Instructor Brian Alexander Powell.
7 October 1957
Inaugurated the first Delhi - Calcutta (2 hr 50 min) - Rangoon, Burma (2 hr 30 min) IAC Viscount service under the contract guidance of Hunting-Clan Chief Flying Instructor Brian Alexander Powell with IAC Captains Jang and Sandhu.
8, 10, 12, 16 February 1958
Noted at Safdarjung Airport, Delhi, India carrying out crew training flights under the contract guidance of Hunting-Clan Chief Flying Instructor Brian Alexander Powell.
11 September 1963
Crashed at Patipura, near Lalitpur which is 32 miles / 51 kms south of Agra, India.
While operating flight 420, the night mail service between Madras, Nagpur and Delhi, India, it went into a steep dive and crashed into a field near the village of Patipua in the Majha region of the Indian state of Punjab near Lalitpur which is 32 miles / 51 kms south of Agra, India.
All 13 passengers and 5 crew were sadly killed.
Despite an extensive investigation the cause of this accident could not be determined.
Total time 14,381 hours and 5,552 total landings.
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