Hyderabad: Technical glitch leads to aircraft crash, pilot safe

Hyderabad: A trainer aircraft crashed on Wednesday morning in a field in Mokila in Shankarapally village in Ranga Reddy district. The 25-year-old trainee pilot, Prashant Bhushan, who was flying the Cessna aircraft and was the only person on board, suffered minor injuries and was immediately shifted to a nearby hospital.

The accident occurred around 11.30 am, 75 km from Hyderabad. The aircraft belonged to the Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy in Begumpet. Engine trouble is suspected to be the cause of the accident.

According to sources, the trainee pilot was doing a solo cross-country flight to Gobur in Karnataka, a routine exercise for trainee pilots. The aircraft was flying at 6,000-7,000 feet when the engine failed. The pilot tried re-starting it, but when he couldn’t he tried to land in an open field due to which he escaped with minor injuries.

DCP Shamshabad Prakash Reddy told this newspaper that a team from the aviation academy and a team from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Delhi, had come to investigate the incident.

• The aircraft was flying at 6,000-7,000 feet when the engine failed. The pilot tried re-starting it, but when he couldn’t he tried to land in an open field due to which he escaped with minor injuries.
• on November 24, 2017, a woman trainee pilot of the Indian Air Force (IAF) ejected safely when her aircraft, which was on a routine training mission, crashed near Hyderabad.
• On September 28, 2017 another Kiran aircraft had crashed in a field in Ankireddypally village.

An aviation expert, who did not want to be named, said the “the Cessna is usually a very reliable aircraft. Reportedly, the trainee pilot was flying alone which is required for certain phases of training ‘solo-hours’, as opposed to ‘dual’ hours when the instructor is alongside.”

Almost exactly a year ago, on November 24, 2017, a woman trainee pilot of the Indian Air Force (IAF) ejected safely when her aircraft, which was on a routine training mission, crashed near Hyderabad. The crash occurred a few minutes after the IAF Kiran aircraft took off from the Air Force Station in Hakimpet on the outskirts of the city.

On September 28, 2017 another Kiran aircraft had crashed in a field in Ankireddypally village. The pilot ejected safely but the aircraft was completely charred. A month later, on October 30, 2017, the door of a helicopter of the Telangana Aviation Academy got detached and fell on a house in Lalaguda in the city. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

The aviation expert said such crashes occur with Air Force trainers, which are required to fly much more demanding manoeuvres even during training. They are subjected to much greater stresses than the aircraft trainees of a flying school such as the Rajiv Gandhi Academy. And they are being forced, because of government mismanagement, to fly trainer aircraft that are 30 years old or even older.”

He said the training at the Rajiv Gandhi Academy and at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal is for completely different purposes.

“The trainees, the aircraft, the flying syllabus, are completely different. The government wants to ban cars which are more than 15 years old but lets young pilots from the Air Force Academy in Dundigal train in 30-year-old aircraft even though their requirements are much more demanding.”