In Photos: Training flight crashes in Kanpur 20 minutes after take-off, 2 killed

A trainee pilot and a flying instructor were killed when their training aircraft crashed in a field near the banks of the Ganga in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday afternoon, police said

According to Vipin Tada, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Kanpur, the deceased have been identified as Sachin Bhatia, a flying instructor from Gujarat, and trainee Abhishek Pujari from Karnataka

The Tecnam aircraft operated by Garg Aviation took off around 11:30 am and crashed about 20 minutes later near Nathapurwa village in the Katri area. The cause of the crash was not immediately known

The company had claimed that the aircraft, which had been with Garg Aviation Ltd, Kanpur, since 2023, had no maintenance-related deficiencies

The civil aviation ministry said the probe agency, AAIB, will investigate the crash and a team of three officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be visiting the crash site for necessary regulatory oversight and coordination

Citing preliminary information, the ministry in a statement said a Tecnam P2006T twin-engine aircraft, bearing registration VT-NBV, met with an accident, approximately 5 nautical miles from Kanpur Civil Airport near Ganga Barrage

Police and fire personnel rushed to the site after the crash, cordoned off the area and secured the wreckage as evidence for investigation into the crash, police said

Videos from the crash site showed the aircraft reduced to a wreck, with debris scattered around the area

A seat was also seen outside the wreckage, though officials have not confirmed whether the pilots attempted to escape the plane

Commissioner Lal, Additional Commissioners of Police Vipin Tada and Sankalp Sharma and Chief Fire Officer Deepak Sharma went to the spot following the crash

Police said the DGCA will examine the aircraft's airworthiness, maintenance records and other technical aspects