Private plane crashes at Surat airstrip

SURAT, March 22: A cessna-152 aircraft crash landed at the Magdalla airstrip on the outskirts of the city on Monday morning. The pilot an...

SURAT, March 22: A cessna-152 aircraft crash landed at the Magdalla airstrip on the outskirts of the city on Monday morning. The pilot and the lone passenger of the two-seater aircraft of Ahmedabad Aviation and Aeronautics (AAA) Limited, however, escaped with minor injuries although the plane suffered damages beyond repair.

Officials of AAA, who rushed to the spot told Express Newsline that a misjudgment on the part of the pilot Captain Hemant Sethi during landing may have caused the plane to land on just one wheel, hit the runway awkwardly and turn upside down before being dragged a few metres. While Sethi was hurt on wrist and the arm, and the lone passenger, who was identified as Rajesh, escaped unhurt. Officials had kept fire fighting equipment ready as fuel had leaked. But the aircraft did not catch fire.

The aircraft with the registration number VT-AAB took off from Ahmedabad at 5:45 am and crash landed midway through the runway at 7:40 am.

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“Although misjudgment on the part of the pilot seems to be the reason at the moment, the exact cause will be ascertained only after an inquiry,” Captain K S Sinha, chief of Operations, AAA, told Express Newsline. He added that the propeller, engine, rings, freight and other parts were badly damaged and the aircraft cannot be put to use again.

While Senior Safety Officer of Air Safety is arriving from Mumbai, Captain R L Diala, deputy director of civil aviation, Delhi is also expected to arrive here.

Aerodrome officer V P Jain, who is in charge of the Magdalla airstrip here said that the inquiry conducted by senior officials would establish the exact cause of the crash landing.

The AAA had launched commercial services on a regular basis from Surat barely a fortnight ago.

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AAA has been offering services to Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar and Rajkot in Saurashtra.

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