Trainee pilot Himani Kalyani's dream to become a commercial pilot was shattered on Wednesday, after the four-seater double engine DA42 aircraft she was flying with her instructor Captain Rajan Gupta met with an accident in Gondia district, killing them both
The aircraft crash-landed just six minutes after take-off
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Trainee pilot Himani Kalyani's dream to become a commercial pilot was shattered on Wednesday, after the four-seater double engine DA42 aircraft she was flying with her instructor Captain Rajan Gupta met with an accident in Gondia district, killing them both. The 24-year-old was to leave for Delhi after her training session on Wednesday evening.
Inquires have revealed that Himani wanted to make her career as a commercial pilot. She had enrolled for a 19-month flying course at the National Flying Training Institute (NFTI) in Gondia district. She was short of only two hours on her 200-hour of flying requirement, which is mandatory to be qualified for becoming a trainee commercial pilot. Captain Gupta (44) was a trained pilot, who had retired from the Indian Air Force. Upon completion of the course, Himani would have obtained a commercial pilot license (CPL) with an instrument rating (IR) and a multi engine rating (ME).
'Technical snag'
A senior official said, "The said aircraft (DA42) was taken out on Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning, Himani took it again with her instructor Gupta. We do not know the exact reason for the crash; it seems to be a technical snag, as the aircraft had lost contact with the air traffic control within six minutes of take-off. The training will be put on hold until the inquiry is completed."
Additional SP (Devri, Gondia) Dr Sandeep Pakale said, "Preliminary inquires revealed that the aircraft took off at 9.24 am and was in touch with the ATC, but around 9.30 am, it lost contact and did not make any mention of an emergency situation on board. The next moment, it was learnt that the aircraft met with an accident 25 km from the Birsi airport in Parsawada."
Asked if the black box on the aircraft has been found, Pakale replied in the negative, stating that such small aircraft do not have a black box and therefore, they won't know about the exact communication that the pilot had with the ATC officer.
Aircraft hit ropeway
Assistant PI Waman Hemne from the Dawaniwada police station said, "Three to four villagers saw the aircraft flying very low and hitting the ropeway on the Wainganga River before it crashed into the river bed. As the river is dry, a portion of the aircraft smashed and fell all over after hitting the ground. Both the bodies had multiple wounds all over and they were still stuck to the seatbelt when the villagers and local police visited the spot."
"We shifted the body to the Government Medical College, where the autopsy was done. We intimated her parents, who arrived late evening at Gondia to complete the formalities and claim the body," said Hemne, adding, "We have registered a case under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code and deployed police bandobast at the spot as the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will be reaching on Thursday to study the spot. The remains will then be shifted as per their instructions."
Speaking to mid-day, Dr Makarand Vyawahare, professor and head of the forensic medicine department, said, "We are taking all precautions for conducting the post-mortem examination. As per procedure, the death certificate with the provisional cause of death has been issued to the police and I am not authorised to share the same with the media."
Unpredictable weather
Could the weather have caused the mishap? A pilot said, "The weather is usually unpredictable in and around Nagpur, and that might be a reason for the mishap. Investigations into small aircraft accidents should be done by an independent agency, like it is done abroad, where highly sophisticated laboratory techniques are used to decode the conversation between the pilot and ATC, which is useful in the absence of black box" A senior official from DGCA said, "The team (AAIB) will study the spot where the accident occurred and will submit a report. It will be too premature to comment on anything at this stage."
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