On 2 May 1953, BOAC Flight 783, a de Havilland Comet jetliner registered G-ALYV and operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation, broke up mid-air and crashed after encountering a severe squall, shortly after taking off from Calcutta (now Kolkata), India.

At around the same time, witnesses on the ground near the village of Jagalgori, around 25 miles (40 km) north-west of Calcutta, observed the aircraft coming down in flames.

[citation needed] The wreckage of G-ALYV was later found strewn along a 5-mile (8 km) track, with the main parts still on fire.

[3] The subsequent investigation found that, after encountering a squall, the aircraft "suffered structural failure in the air which caused fire."

The probable cause of the failure was reported as "overstressing which resulted from either: severe gusts encountered in the thundersquall, or overcontrolling or loss of control by the pilot when flying through the thunderstorm.