Two trainee pilots killed in Cessna plane crash

Hyderabad: A pilot and a female trainee were killed when the Cessna aircraft they were flying in crashed in an agricultural field at Sultanpur village of Bantwaram mandal in Vikarabad district on Sunday afternoon.

The bodies of the pilot and the trainee were found close to the crash site. The police has sent the bodies for an autopsy to Vikarabad Area Hospital.

The aircraft took off from the Begumpet airport at 11.12 am and was lost at around 1 pm. The crash site is 100 km from the city. The deceased belonged to the Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy, a division of Wings Aviation Private Ltd.

The Vikarabad police suspects that bad weather could be the reason for the crash, but will take the help of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation before coming to a conclusion.

Vikarabad in-charge DSP Ravinder Reddy identified the victims as Vishal Prakash, 24, a native of Delhi, and Amanpreet Kaur, 22, of Punjab.

The DSP said that Vishal Prakash had completed his training about three months ago and had a pilot’s licence. Amanpreet Kaur was undergoing training. They lifted off from the Begumpet station and lost contact with the station some time later. They crashed in a cotton field in Sultanpur, he said. Locals saw the plane crash and alerted revenue officials and the police.

“The aircraft took off from Begumpet at around 11.12 am. After flying for about an hour, it lost contact with the ATC at around 12.20 pm. A search operation was immediately launched and the agencies concerned were all alerted. At around 2.30 pm, confirmation was received about the aircraft crash and death of two including the trainee pilot,” Begumpet Airport general manager C. Pattabhi said.

“The aircraft is allowed out only when the weather is suitable for flying. The exact reasons for the crash need to be ascertained,” he added.

“Prima facie, it is found that when the aircraft was flying, the weather was unpleasant. A villager, who witnessed the incident shared that the aircraft flew upside down several times before crashing at high speed,” said the DSP.

A case under Section 174 of the CrPC was registered at the Bantwaram police station based on a complaint from K. Mallaiah, the farmer who witnessed the crash.

When asked if aircraft were allowed to fly during inclement weather, V.N. Bharath Reddy, director, Telangana State Aviation Corporation, said: “The mishap seems to be not due to bad weather. The training standards need to be set high by private aviation schools to avoid such incidents. The DGCA will probe into the incident and as a state body we will also get a report and study the incident.”

Officials of the Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy were not available for comment.

A senior pilot on condition of anonymity said, “The plane was going from east to west. Clouds were coming from the west. Due to this, the turbulence was very high. Cessna aircraft are light and when they come in contact with such turbulent weather conditions mishaps can occur.”

According to safety norms to be followed by pilots, there must be clear visibility till five kilometres before take-off. Permission is granted only when such visibility is present. The warnings given by the weather department of lightning, thunder and rains are taken into account, but pilots are trained to fly in these bad weather conditions too, explained a senior pilot on condition of anonymity.