‘Suddenly there was no sound, plane came close to water’: Eyewitness helps find pilots’ bodies after Cessna crash

The Cessna 152 aircraft had gone missing after taking off from the Sonari aerodrome on Tuesday morning, following which a search operation was launched in nearby areas.

The search was later narrowed down to the reservoir of the Chandil Dam after an eyewitness, sources said, saw the aircraft crashing in that area. The National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) was called in to take part in the search, and later the Navy was also brought in. Eventually, on Thursday, the two bodies were recovered.

Rushu Manjhi, an eyewitness and resident of Pyaldih village under Chandil block, told The Indian Express: “I was around five-six kilometres away from where the crash took place. Initially, I saw the plane flying and suddenly, there was no sound and the plane came very close to the water. However, it restarted and started flying, but after a point it shut down again and crashed into the water. I alerted the people of my village, and that is how officials came to me.”

Saraikela Kharsawan Deputy Commissioner R S Shukla said that after getting the information from the eyewitness, search parties on Wednesday found in the water a pair of shoes that belonged to one of the deceased. This helped the authorities confirm that the crash did indeed take place in this area.

He said the body of the trainee pilot was found at around 9 am on Thursday, and that of the pilot-in-command was found by 3 pm. “We are yet to locate the debris of the aircraft. The post-mortem of the bodies will be conducted Thursday night,” Shukla said.

Navy personnel will make a fresh attempt on Friday morning, with the help of a Sonic Navigation and Ranging Device, to find the aircraft, he said.

Alchemist Aviation said in a statement that the aircraft, which is registered as VT-TAJ, took off at 10.32 am for “general flying” at an altitude of 2,500 feet in the Jamshedpur north sector. “The aircraft had 80 litres of fuel in it, with an endurance of 4 hours 30 minutes, and the flying time was scheduled to be one hour. The aircraft lost contact with the Jamshedpur Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower at 11.10 am, which was when emergency response was initiated by the ATC. The aircraft has been missing since that time,” the company said.

Asked about the difficulty in locating the aircraft, Alchemist Aviation managing director Mrinal Paul told The Indian Express that having a GPS device was not mandatory for the aircraft. It was, however, fitted with an Emergency Location Transmitter (ELT), he said, adding: “It is not clear why the ELT did not activate automatically. It is a matter for investigation.”

The company’s statement said the plane was airworthy and that it had an airworthiness certificate issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

“The aircraft has a lifespan of 30,000 hours, out of which it has completed only 16,000 hours. It is pertinent to mention here that we directly purchase engines only from Lycoming Engines, USA. We do not use locally overhauled engines,” the company said.

The DGCA has launched an investigation, and the reasons for the crash will only become known after the debris is found, sources said.