The Charkhi Dadri collision, considered the most devastating in recent aviation history, killed all 312 passengers on board the Saudia flight which was headed from New Delhi to Dhahran and the 37 passengers on board the Kazakh flight bound for New Delhi.

The crash, investigated by a commission, headed by then Delhi High Court judge Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, determined that the accident had been the fault of the Kazakh IL 76 commander who, according to the Flight Data Recorder, had descended from the assigned altitude in a serious breach of operating procedure due to lack of proficiency in English. He was relying entirely on their radio operator for communication with the Air Traffic Control in Delhi.