105-yr-old Indian pilot dies in silence but unravels vicious Cold War plot to assassinate Zhou Enlai 

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No other journalist platform would cover such a story. Really admire The Print for the kind of stories you cover. I only know of this crash story from the biography written on RN Kao.

Excellent narration. Luckily I had a chance to read (long time back when I was in school) the book "Kashmir Princes" by Mr. Karnik. He was assigned as an additional engineer (besides the flight engineer) for that special flight. He gave a good description of the flight till the accident, after the explosion, ditching efforts, and then survival efforts to reach a nearby island. I remember his words that the aluminum wing was burning like paper. The plane was difficult to control due to uneven lift as the right wing disintegrating due to fire. Capt. Jathar managed to ditch the aircraft in spite of that. Plane broke into three major pieces amid intense fire. Only three of them managed to get out. They tried to swim to the nearest island but could not due to very strong currents. Ultimately they managed to reach islands and then getting help from the authorities. Later on they were asked "how did the sharks spare you?" by British Royal Navy ship crew that helped in investigation and recovery. Apparently those are shark infested waters. Ms. Berry was engaged to be married to a TWA airline captain but fate had different plans. Separately Capt. Jathar skippered Air India's first international flight from Cairo to London via Rome (Bombay to Cairo was another senior Captain). Thanks for covering this topic.

I had read about the crash of Kashmir Princess in a Kannada Digest called "Kasturi", which compiled stories from various sources and presented it much like Readers' Digest. Of course, so many details were not known then except that Chou En Lai (as spelled then) had escaped death. Many thanks for bringing back such an old crash story. Probably, you should also do a CTC on Kanishka, the Air India jumbo jet which went down in the Atlantic, and Emperor Akbar, which went down off Bombay coast (as it was called then).

Salute to the Print Team for choosing this story in cut the clutter... Such a ride in to the 50's and 60's feels like we lived in there.... Sir please make an episode or 2 on Homi Bhabha and the spy, espionage at that time... ROCKET Boys had done a good job but when we hear it from you we are sure that we are clear of the clutter.

शेखर गुप्ता भी दादा नाना की तरह पुरानी कहानियां सुनाता है पर ये कहानियां रोचक रोमांचक और सत्य होती है।।

What an amazing piece of history. Thank you for bringing it to us.

ThePrint subscription is worth every penny. There is no pretense or condescending. Just honest exchange of information. Even the comment section here is largely educational. The range of topics are spectacular and Gupta's assessments while not always accurate or agreeable are certainly bold.

Incredible story! Can't believe there was so much cooperation between India and China that their topmost leader trusted our airplanes and security. Thank you SG sir for your amazing narration!

Excellent!! Thanks for the fwg:- 1. For choosing this off-beat story. 2. For highlighting reminding us of the bravery of some of our unsung heroes. 3. For throwing light into the complex greys of the early cold-war geo-politics and the ruthless ways of dealing with threats those days (a little better these days, I feel!! ) 4. For stitching in all of these into a rivetting story.

Loved your narration SG. It was brilliant and gave goosebumps. That mention of Dr Bhaba was a great touch for completeness. Lots has happened in history and it emphasises that today's geopolitics cannot be seen in black and white

Thank you very much for the excellent narration. Sad to here that Capt. M. C. Dixit passed away. But incredible to hear that he was 105. My father Anant Karnik also passed away a few years ago. He would have enjoyed listening to this talk

Had the good fortune of meeting the pilot. He was eloquent about his escape from the burning drowned plane but had little inkling about the alrger conspiracy that SG has unraveled

Thanks for piecing together the story of Kasmir Princess. I was five then and read a sketchy article about it in a widely read Marathi magazine then. Your story blew away the dust of time from that memory. At that time, Captain Jatar (pronounced Jataar) and Ms Gloria Berry were my heroes. Thanks bringing them out of the oblivion.

Sweet! Was just waiting for my daily dose of CTC! and it arrives.

This was one hell of an interesting story...glad that you covered this 👍🏼

A priceless nugget buried deep in the pages of history....narrated by Mr Gupta with his customary humour and attention to the minutest detail which makes one marvel at the courage of the pilot and flight stewardess who perished while trying their utmost to save others

Without knowing the past, one cannot truly appreciate the present. Episodes like this give millennials like me a slice of History. Icing on the cake is Shekharji's skill of story telling.

Amazing, who else can come up with such piece other than SG ! salute !

Spectacular story and very well put forward. Thanks Sir for covering such topics

Super, What a story! Great CTC episode, Shekhar. 👏🏼🙏🏻👏🏼

These are the best topics for CTC. Love the insights.

I am pretty sure there is an akshay kumar movie called "Kashmir Princess" in the making inspired by this episode of CTC 😀

Excellent narration...I hope other journalists follow you and improve their standards.

Capt. Mahesh Chandra Dikshit was my late fathers friend. I have met him several times

Lucky bisht sir explain this conspiracy very perfectly which is top secret and never published in the world So also watch his pordcast and china is also not a doodh ka dhula RN kau sir saved us

I remember reading how the cockpit crew survived 80’ waves when they crashed in the ocean; till they were found dehydrated in the islands of Indonesia. The co pilot lost his nerve to fly again after this trauma…..unfortunately I never knew about Gloria Berry 😢

It is the experience of all, that a person nearing 85 or 90 can't arrange his thoughts (past experience) in a meaningful sequence of events, for us to derive benefit out of them. It is the reason why it is a good idea to get information about their experiences before they reach 80.

Shekarji, that was pretty good Advertisement....about 'self employment ' ...it's true... And once again thanks a lot to you too.

I wish you’d do more of these kind of stories ….

Zhou Enlai hated Nehru because of his attitude. Infact Bandung conference Zhou Enlai became a hero and Nehru lost his chance to impress

Great story.... Superbly narrated guptaji.... Well done 👍🏽

Many many thanks for unraveling the conspiracy behind the crash of Kashmir Princess.

I love the way THIS MAN wraps it up in the end eh........ He's probably a scholar......or most likely studied scholars and stuff.

When The Majaraja's used to fly The emperor Kanishka, Kashmiri Princess, Ashoka The Great etc!! Hope these decorations of the Maharaja returns now that it's back in its real home. Interestingly a part of this story appears in the biography of JRD Tata the heart & Soul behind Air India. When an Air India exec reached Singapore and Saw Zhou Enlai, he enquired about the chartered Air India plane which was supposed to take Zhou Enlai. And for that, Zhou Enlai replied a one liner "You didn't know?"

Simply Amazing!!

Excellent narration and story telling.

Wow great thank you for this revelation Shekhar ji 👌👌👌

What a amazing brave Indian ,you would never hear from our own media praises because our media is consuming Bollywood garbage .

Excellent Mr. Shekhar ji. Thanks a lot for such information.

On our local TV channels, there is a seriers called "Turbulent skies" or something like that. The story is of 30's when powerful aviation industrialists were competing with each other for the rights of the best aircraft (steel vs wooden). There was a race from the US to Australia to declare the winner aircraft. DC-2 was the most popular machine back then.

Absolutely brillianly explained by SG. Loved it thoroughly

👌Superb (Knowledge + wisdom) 👍its Great (because you were there in 1970's days only you can explain and talk OffHand) 🙏Thank you ShekarGuptaSir for the exhaustive information it's worth ❤

Wikipedia says that a Janitor Chow Tse-ming was the prime suspect, not an engineer. Is wikipedia incorrect?

Superb episode!

Thank you sir.. I always learning something unknown from your videos

Thanks Sir, was waiting for this ✨show from a very long time even suggested you once after reading the book.

India and China were in the same level of economic development at that time in 1955 . Chinese sources report that Zhou enLai resented Nehru behavior at Bandung conference. Zhou en Lai resented patronizing attitude of Nehru introducing him to other delegates as senior statesman . Nehru was not sensitive to Chinese cultural sensibilities. Same attitude of Nehru caused the precipitation of Indo Chinese war of 1962 when he wanted publically to kick them out from disputed border

What an excellent CTC! Loved it.

Another golden nugget by Gupta Sahab!

A webseries or movie should be made on this story

A reputed channel like this one should not take advertisements from Franklin whose dubious past ( recent debacle in closing the debt funds unilaterally ) creates a dent. I request shekhar Gupta to not to take Ads from Franklin.

thanks...

Thanks for the very interesting story, Sekharji

The picture pf the Air India Lockheed L-749A Constellation shown in the video is not the Kashmir Princess (Registration: VT-DEP ) but of Bengal Princess (Registration: VT-DEO). The registration is printed on the plane, seen in the picture.

Kudos to Capt Jatar, Gloria Berry and the crew ... Calm under pressure.

Zhou made a fool of india...

Simply amazing story! Thanks for enlightening us Mr Gupta

At the start of 50s Sardar Patel warned Chacha Nehru about Chinese and their intentions, However as usual Chacha ignored him and as a nation we served Chinese entire 50s and got betrayed in 1962. I think the behavior of ignoring other's intelligence and forcing strategies leading to nation's loss is not what great leaders do.

Sekha should be addressed as Professor Sekhar, he makes any story interesting. Also for some reason Professors explanations stick on to memory. @print

Thanks to the Indian National Archives where one can access the records running into hundreds of pages regarding the "Kashmir Princess".

This has to be my favourite episode

Mr MC Dixit was my wife's maternal grandfather. Rest in peace Dada.. Dada's family stays in the US and they are so well raised and are really good persons with impeccable personality. What is also interesting to know is that Nani ji (Mr MC Dixit's wife) was alive until she was 102. As a couple, they had seen it all :)

Gloria berry💖

I read this incident in a book called Kashmir Princes. DK Jatter and my uncle learned flying together in Delhi Flying club Air hostess Gloria Berry bravery was mentioned in details.

very interesting story , thanks shekhar

Thank you for this story. Very interesting. I never knew India and China were so close

Death of Mr.Bhabha should be seprate story..It was big loss and bigger conspiracy

Great research and bringing it to your audience Shekhar. Can you please research on to the Major and Governor during Nehru who saved Tawang?

He went out as India's representative at ICAO, Ottawa and retired as Dy. DGCA India

This is what SG is best at - recounting the past.

What a great story.

Very Good Information

Very Good Story for CTC ..... Thank you.

well narrated. 👍

Mr. Gupta as I understand Hong Kong Island was on perpetual lease with the British as distinct from the New Territories which were on a 99 year lease. Thus Main HK Island owned by the UK.

I read about this, in the book - The War that made RAW, which was promoted by ThePrint.

Wow! The things you learn about on CC❣️

How a Person based in Dhaka can take a paid membership? Do you have plans to launch it for Bangladesh? Regards Mohammad Iqbal

SG is wrong...Hong Kong was not Chinese but British territory until 1997

Fascinating 👍 #ThePrint #ShekharGupta 🙏

Legends of the great R.N.KAO

Pls make a CTC or economic episode on BIS report showing unrecorded - hidden debt of $80 TRILLION.

You mentioned 1966 homi bhabha and Malabar princess incident. Well Shastri succumbed to death the same year during the cold war.

Wow amazing!!

Bold and beautiful...🤝🙏👌👍

Good going SG!

Good story. I wish we knew how this incident happened in the context of our ties with China. In 1955, China and India were steering NAM and strong friends against Cold war politics. How this got so wrong that we had to fight a war with Chine 7 years later.

RU-vid showing me Mukhbir trailer before the video felt fitting

Ink mark on SG's thumb reminds of the time when I used to write exams

What a generation that was.

If sekhar ji is telling this type of amazing stories to this generation i wonder what were sekharji bed time Stories

You can be sure that the release of Sars2 was a joint US/Taiwanese collaboration.

It will make such a great movie

The book Kashmir Princess should have been given credit to. The 1966 crash of the AI 707 on Mont Blanc ( 400 miles SE of Paris ) on its descent to Geneva, was a CIA job got take out Bhaba and delay India's Atomic program. The Altimeter was tampered with at an intermediate stop. A thorough search of the Net would have revealed it. But he is right about Kai Two and underwear size

I can now understand China's animosity towards us.

The Chinese spell (Maharaja) Ranjit Singh’s name as Ren-Chi-Xing in their reports of the Sino-Sikh wars.

Chaa Gaye guru

Gupta ji 🙏

They survived a crash 👏 vahh