On 14 February 1990, an Airbus A320-231 registered as VT-EPN, crashed onto a golf course while attempting to land at Bangalore, killing 92 of 146 people on board.

[2] The Indian investigative team ruled that the probable cause was the pilots selecting the "Open descent/flight idle" control mode rather than "Glideslope capture", allowing the aircraft to sink far below the correct flight path.

They further failed to advance the throttles or pull up even after the radio altitude call-outs, as the aircraft approached landing.

[2] The report stated that the crew of Flight 605 weren't aware of the situation and the danger they were facing at the time, resulting in delayed reaction during the descent.

[2] After the crash, the Indian investigation committee issued 62 recommendations to the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), including a time recording on the air traffic control (ATC) tapes and the formation of several investigative committees specializing in several aviation operational issues.

Included in the recommendation was the addition of a crash siren in Bangalore, evaluation of the evacuation doors and slides in Airbus airplanes, and a design change on their instrument knob.

The report also urged the government to evaluate every airport in India to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

[1] The crash drew criticism among the Indian Commercial Pilot Association (ICPA) which claimed that the Airbus A320 had severe flaws.

[1] Another A320 accident less than two years later (which occurred under similar circumstances) led to design improvements to the flight control unit and numerous safety recommendations.

Flight 605 was asked by Bangalore Radar to turn right and make a visual approach to Runway 09.

The surviving cabin crew opened the emergency door on the airplane and began to evacuate the survivors.

[1] According to eyewitnesses, no fire service units reached the crash site as there was no radio transmitter (RT) communication facility between the tower and firefighting vehicles.

A portable radio transmitter was available for communication between the tower and the aerodrome fire station, but was not serviceable on the day of the accident.

[1] The pilot who controlled the flight was Indian national Captain Cyril Fernandez at 46 years old.

He joined Indian Airlines in 1969 and was employed as a co-pilot on a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 from 1971 to 1981, later flying the plane as a captain.

[1] The report then stated that several passengers may have been too injured to move, leaving them physically unable to escape from the burning wreckage.

the rudder, the ailerons, the trimmable horizontal stabilizer, the flaps and slats, and several other flight controls.

Realizing that the aircraft had regained its normal glide path, Captain Gopujkar reported at 01:42 that he had now selected a "700 ft rate of descent".

[1] Because of Captain Gopujkar's action, the aircraft went back to the 'open descent' mode, causing the throttle to be in the idle position.

When the plane was only 135 ft (41 m) from the ground, Captain Fernandez suddenly realized the gravity of the situation and exclaimed: "Hey, we're going down!".

[1] India's investigative team concluded that pilot error was the cause of the accident, which was supported by Airbus Industrie.

However, the India Commercial Pilot Association (ICPA) disputed the report, claiming that a design flaw on the Airbus A320 was the cause of the crash.

[5] The ICPA stated that the senior Captain of the flight, Captain Gopujkar, would not have made the series of mistakes described in the official report, and stated that there was no proof that he made the faulty setting (since the flight data recorder did not record such mistakes).

The association also believed that the engines went to idle power because of a major system defect, and that, even when Gopujkar tried to shut his director off, it didn't respond.

In response, changes were made to the Flight Control Unit panel display; the French aviation safety authority issued 34 recommendations.