Report on the Accident to Boeing 747-237B VT-EFO, Air India Flight 182, Off Cork, Ireland on 23 June 1985 by John Barry Smith, Independent Aircraft Accident Investigator Abstract … … India Flight 182, a Boeing 747-237B, registration VT-EFO, was on a flight from Mirabel airport, Montreal, Canada, to Heathrow airport, London, UK, when it disappeared from the radar scope at a position of latitude 51 degrees 0 minutes North and longitude 12 degrees 50 minutes West at 0714 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), 23 June 1985, and the pieces …

References and Source Materials: AAIB Aircraft Accident Report No 2/90, Pan Am 103, 22 December 1988, Boeing 747 Blacks Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition 1990 Canadian Aviation Bureau Aviation Occurrence, Air India Boeing, 747-237B VT- EFO Report Indian Kirpal Report, Report Of The Court Investigating Accident To Air India Boeing 747 Aircraft VT-ETO, “Kanishka” On 23rd June 1985 NAVAVNSAFECEN Investigation 69-67, RA-5C, 14 June, 1967 Netherlands Aviation Safety Board AAR 92-11, El Al Flight 1862, Boeing 747 NTSB AAR 90/01 UAL Flight 811, 23 February 1989, Boeing 747 NTSB AAR 92/02 UAL Flight 811, 23 February 1989, Boeing 747 NTSB AAR 00/03 TWA Flight 800, 17 July 1996, Boeing 747 NTSB AAR 93/06, JAL Flight 46E, 31 March, 1993, Boeing 747 Definitions: Definitions as used in this report: Bomb: ‘Bomb’ may mean an explosive device designed to release destructive material at high velocity upon detonation; an explosive device placed in an aircraft with an intent to detonate. Cargo Door: In the Boeing 747 both the forward and aft lower cargo doors are similar in appearance and operation. They are located on the lower starboard side of the fuselage and are outward opening and nonplug. The door opening is approximately 110 inches wide by 99 inches high, as measured along the fuselage. Cargo Compartments: The forward and aft freight holds are used for the storage of cargo and baggage in standard air-transportable containers. The forward freight compartment has a length of approximately 40 feet and a depth of approximately 6 feet…… There was some circumstantial evidence in 1985 that a bomb caused that explosion; however, based upon similar circumstances to similar aircraft leaving similar evidence in the subsequent sixteen years, new facts and circumstantial evidence sustain the premise explanation by this investigator that the cause of the explosion in the Air India Flight 182 forward cargo compartment was not the result of a conspiracy to detonate a bomb but a mechanical explanation as caused by an explosion in the forward cargo compartment of explosive decompression when the forward cargo door ruptured open in flight, probably at one or both of the midspan latches and probably caused by faulty wiring inadvertently turning on the door unlatch motor. Section 2 of this report establishes that Air India Flight 182 did suffer an explosion in the forward cargo door compartment on the starboard side that led to the total breakup of the aircraft in flight and the explosion cause was not a bomb. Section 3 establishes that the cause of the explosion in Air India Flight 182 was an explosive decompression when the forward cargo door ruptured open in flight probably at one or both of the midspan latches and probably caused by faulty wiring. 2. Premise Explanations for Air India Flight 182: The main questions presented to the investigators in 1985/1986 for the cause of the inflight breakup for Air India Flight 182 were, ‘What kind of explosion and where did it occur?’ Six premises will be examined: 2.1 Premise Explanation: Explosion in flight for Air India Flight 182 in the forward cargo compartment. Proponents: Indian Government in its Kirpal Report, CASB, Canadian Aviation Safety Board, now TSB, Transportation Safety Board, of Canada, in its Canadian Aviation Occurrence Report, UK AAIB, United Kingdom Air Accidents Investigation Branch Farnborough, U.K by its representative, NTSB USA, National Transportation Safety Board, United States of America, by its representative 2.2. Premise Explanation: Explosion of a bomb in the aft cargo compartment of Air India Flight 182, a bomb which was first loaded at Vancouver B.C, Canada onto CP Flight 060 on 22 June, 1985. No proponent but considered, evaluated, and rejected by the Indian Kirpal Report and the Canadian Aviation Occurrence Report,…

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