Indore: One pilot died and another sustained multiple injuries when a Cessna flight trainer aircraft of MP Flying Club crashed on the Indore airport premises on Wednesday morning.
The incident occurred when the pilots were carrying out a touch-and-go manoeuvre as part of experience building (called hour building in aviation parlance) exercise. The director general of civil aviation (DGCA) has ordered a probe.
Both the pilots — assistant pilot instructor Capt Pawandeep Singh Pabla (26) and commercial pilot Arshad Qureshi (28) — were admitted to ICU ward of Aurobindo Hospital where Qureshi succumbed to his injuries in the evening. Both the pilots had sustained multiple injuries and were rushed to hospital in serious condition.
Confirming the death of Qureshi, Dr Saket Jatti, one of the doctors treating the injured pilot said, “We could not save him. He died in operation theatre.”
“The twin-seater Cessna 152A aircraft took off at 10.39 am and the pilots returned to the airport for carrying out a touch-and-go maneuver at 10.49 am. The pilots again returned to carry out the same maneuver at 10.54 am, but this time, the communication with ATC broke down. At 11.05 am, after failing to establish radio contact, the ATC sent a search and rescue team which found that the plane had crashed about 150 meters inside the boundary wall,” Indore airport director in-charge Sanjay Agrawal told HT.
Talking to HT, MP Flying Club chief flight instructor Capt Mandar Mahajan said that Cessna 152A is a reliable aircraft and is used across the country. “I am not aware what went wrong but I can say that Capt Pawandeep Singh is an experienced pilot with 1,000 hours of flying experience,” he said. Qureshi had also become a pilot instructor recently, flying club sources said.
In June 2013, a Cessna 152 twin-seater aircraft had crash landed outside Indore airport after its engine failed. However, the plane had landed in fields outside the airport premises and both the pilots had escaped with minor injuries.
Crash timeline
10.39 am: The two-seater Cessna 152/A aircraft takes off with assistant pilot instructor Capt Pawandeep Singh Pabla and commercial pilot Arshad Qureshi
10.49 am: The pilots return to the airport to carry out touch-and-go maneuver
10.54: The pilots return again to carry out touch-and-go maneuver, but this time, the ATC loses radio contact
11.05 am: ATC dispatches search and rescue team
11.10 am: The team found that the plane had crashed about 500 meters from the runway and both the pilots had sustained multiple injuries
11.15 am: Pilots rushed to hospital in airport ambulance.
Directions guide
Main terminal building – North side
Crash site: 150 metres inside boundary wall and 500 metres away from runway south-east of main terminal building.
