Air India Flight 101: The Baffling Disappearance That Still Haunts Aviation Experts 40 Years Later

On January 1, 1985, Air India Flight 101 vanished from radar over the Atlantic Ocean with 213 passengers aboard. What began as a routine Paris-New York flight became one of aviation’s greatest unsolved mysteries—and new evidence suggests the truth may be more disturbing than anyone imagined.

The Final Transmission

The last words from Captain Rajesh Vora still chill investigators:
“Weather normal. All systems—wait… what is that? No, no, NO—”
Then: 17 seconds of static before total silence.

The Unexplained Clues

  1. The Radar Anomaly

    • Military satellites detected an unidentified blip moving at Mach 3 (2,300 mph) just after disappearance

    • No known aircraft could reach that speed in 1985

  2. The Floating Debris

    • A fisherman later recovered a seat cushion stamped with Air India’s logo

    • Laboratory tests revealed strange pitting consistent with extreme heat (not crash damage)

  3. The Missing Black Boxes

    • Despite multiple searches, neither flight recorder was ever found

    • Experts confirm they should have emitted signals for 30+ days

The Theories That Defy Logic

  • Hijacking Gone Wrong (Yet no group claimed responsibility)

  • Experimental Weapon Test (Declassified CIA files mention “energy pulse” tests that week)

  • The Bermuda Triangle Connection (Flight path crossed its eastern edge)

The Families’ Fight for Answers

Relatives of victims recently petitioned to reopen the case after:

  • A retired air traffic controller came forward with never-heard audio tapes

  • NASA admitted they’d detected an “atmospheric disturbance” that night

  • Maldives witnesses reported “a fireball streaking sideways” at the exact time

Why This Still Matters

If this was human error, it could rewrite safety protocols. If it was something else… the implications are terrifying.