Date:	Friday 30 April 1954
Time:	09:18
Type:	Douglas C-47A-DL (DC-3)
Owner/operator:	Darbhanga Aviation
Registration:	VT-DEM
MSN:	13792
Year of manufacture:	1944
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 11
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	1 km S of Calcutta-Dum Dum Airport (CCU) -   India
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	Calcutta-Dum Dum Airport (CCU/VECC)
Destination airport:	Balurghat Airport (RGH/VEBG)
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The no. 1 engine of the DC-3 caught fire immediately after takeoff from Calcutta runway 19R. The aircraft failed to gain height, stalled and crashed into trees, about 1 km past the runway end.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "a) Delay in feathering after failure of the port engine (due to inexperience of the pilot in emergency procedures), which resulted in a loss of height; b) the subsequent attempt to establish a climb with a nose-high attitude (to get over the obstructions), below the recommended single-engine rate of climb speed, with both gear and flaps up, and c) the progressive loss of airspeed which finally resulted in a stall on a coconut tree. Although there is no doubt that the profuse smoke emanating from the port engine was due to the failure of the engine, it was not possible to determine the primary cause of that failure."

Douglas DC-3 Production List (Issue no. 28)
ICAO Accident Digest, Circular 47-AN/42 (101-104)
The Indian Express - May 1, 1954

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