Saudia Flight 763 was a Boeing 747-168B, registration HZ-AIH, departing from Delhi as part of a scheduled international Delhi–Dhahran–Jeddah passenger service with 312 people on board.[8] The crew on this flight consisted of Captain Khalid al-Shubaily (aged 45), First Officer Nazir Khan (aged 37), and Flight Engineer Ahmed Edrees (aged 33). Al-Shubaily was a veteran pilot with 9,837 flying hours.[9]There is some dispute as to the nationalities of the passengers of Flight 763. According to an article published on 14 November 1996, 215 Indians, many of whom worked in Saudi Arabia as blue-collar workers, boarded the flight, along with 40 Nepalis and three Americans.[10] However, according to a different article, the passenger manifest included 17 people of other nationalities, including nine Nepalis, three Pakistanis, two Americans, one Bangladeshi, one British, and one Saudi.[4] Twelve of the crew members, including five anti-terrorism officials, were Saudi Arabian citizens.[11]