Air India's Boeing 747 'Kanishka,' named after Emperor Kanishka who ruled an Indian state in the second century, cruised over the Atlantic at 31,000ft as it flew towards London, Heathrow. The aircraft, registration VT-EFO, was operating Flight 182 on the east bound journey on a trip between India and Canada. Flight 181 from India had transitted Frankfurt when travelling westbound to Toronto, then had doubled back to Montreal. There the flight number had changed to Flight AI182 for the return trip to London, New Delhi and Bombay. On Flight 181`s Toronto to Montreal sector, therefore, some passengers were inbound to Montreal from India while others were outbound from Toronto on the way to India.
Air India's Canadian flight was a weekly service, and the present crew of 22, under the command of Captain Hanse Singh Narenda, had spent a pleasant six day stopover in Toronto before boarding the aircraft. The co-pilot was Satninder Singh Bhinder, also a Captain but on this flight sitting in the right hand seat, and the flight engineer was Dara Dumasia, about to retire and completing his last trip. The 19 flight attendants of Captain Narendra`s crew were under the charge of Sampath Lazer. A large expadriate Indian community had settled in Canada and Flight 182 was over three quarters full with 307 passengers who were mostly returning on a visit to India to their adopted country. The large crew onboard the aircraft brought the total onboard to 329 people.. The time was now 0.600hrs GMT on Sunday 23rd June, 1985, about 2½ hours from landing, and the aircraft was estimated to land at Heathrow at 08.33 hrs. The Air India flight was running about 1¾ hours late because of the time taken in Toronto to fit "fifth pod", or spare engine. On 8th June an Air India aircraft had suffered an engine failure on take-off and had landed back at Toronto where an Air Canada engine was borrowed for the homeward journey. The engine had been returned one week later and Kanishka now flew back with the broken engine for repair in India. The carriage of a spare engine, which is fitted below the left wing between the inboard engine and the fuselage, is more commonplace than most passengers realise, and is a convenient way of transporting such a bulky item. The engine is shrouded with fairings to reduce drag and slight trim adjustments are made to maintain balanced flight.. A maximum indicated airspeed is imposed with the carriage of a fifth engine, but otherwise flying characteristics are normal. Captain Narendra had requested a reduced cruising Mach number of 0.81 on the North Atlantic track for the purposes of Flight 182, instead of the normal 0.84 Mach cruise, to comply with the restricted speed.
Air India's Canadian flight was a weekly service, and the present crew of 22, under the command of Captain Hanse Singh Narenda, had spent a pleasant six day stopover in Toronto before boarding the aircraft. The co-pilot was Satninder Singh Bhinder, also a Captain but on this flight sitting in the right hand seat, and the flight engineer was Dara Dumasia, about to retire and completing his last trip. The 19 flight attendants of Captain Narendra`s crew were under the charge of Sampath Lazer. A large expadriate Indian community had settled in Canada and Flight 182 was over three quarters full with 307 passengers who were mostly returning on a visit to India to their adopted country. The large crew onboard the aircraft brought the total onboard to 329 people.. The time was now 0.600hrs GMT on Sunday 23rd June, 1985, about 2½ hours from landing, and the aircraft was estimated to land at Heathrow at 08.33 hrs. The Air India flight was running about 1¾ hours late because of the time taken in Toronto to fit "fifth pod", or spare engine. On 8th June an Air India aircraft had suffered an engine failure on take-off and had landed back at Toronto where an Air Canada engine was borrowed for the homeward journey. The engine had been returned one week later and Kanishka now flew back with the broken engine for repair in India. The carriage of a spare engine, which is fitted below the left wing between the inboard engine and the fuselage, is more commonplace than most passengers realise, and is a convenient way of transporting such a bulky item. The engine is shrouded with fairings to reduce drag and slight trim adjustments are made to maintain balanced flight.. A maximum indicated airspeed is imposed with the carriage of a fifth engine, but otherwise flying characteristics are normal. Captain Narendra had requested a reduced cruising Mach number of 0.81 on the North Atlantic track for the purposes of Flight 182, instead of the normal 0.84 Mach cruise, to comply with the restricted speed.
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