In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Lockheed Constellation series, an aircraft with a distinctive three-tail fin and attractive dolphin-shaped fuselage, epitomised the cutting edge of commercial flying. It was a favourite of both the US military and commercial airlines. Air India International, started by the industrialist J.R.D. Tata, but subsequently nationalised by the Indian government, acquired seventeen Constellation aircraft from Lockheed in its first decade since starting international operations in 1949.
One of these was Serial Number 2666, a Lockheed Constellation 749A, which was christened Kashmir Princess. Recruited into service in 1951, this workhorse flew about 30 million miles, clocking a solid over 11,000 hours, until it was tragically downed by an exploding bomb on 11 April 1955. The bomb killed sixteen people and yet missed its actual target: the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.