: The presence of mind shown by the two pilots, aided by favourable factors on the ground, helped save the lives of people inside and outside the ill-fated air ambulance.
Police officers, who interacted with the two pilots quoted them as saying that as soon as they realised they had to make an emergency landing, the first thing on their mind was to spot an unpopulated stretch of land.
Fearing that the plane would crash in the populated Kair village, located on the Delhi-Haryana border, the pilots showed presence of mind and diverted the plane towards a large empty stretch located on the village’s border, said a senior officer.
“The pilots also did well to ensure that neither of the wings hit the ground. At first glance no one can say that the aircraft was involved in a crash landing,” said another officer.
Lucky break
The pilots did well even after the plane came to a halt, said eyewitnesses. “Within seconds, the pilots emerged from the aircraft and opened the exit gates to allow the other occupants to come out,” said Dayanand Mangeram, a local who was among the first to reach and help the occupants out.
Favourable ground factors also helped. Firstly, the crops had been harvested and the fields were relatively free of obstruction. Secondly, there were no farmers in the fields at that time.
The plane also touched ground just metres beyond a row of trees.“The plane clipped off the top of some of these trees while landing,” said Sandeep Dahiya, who witnessed the crash.
A major obstruction in the form of a three-foot high cement road, within 100 metres of the first touch spot, posed a threat to the plane that had already lost both its wheels on hitting the ground.
Many obstructions
But a muddy stretch along the road provided the skidding plane a slope, causing it to jump several feet in the air before landing several feet beyond the road.
Upon the second landing, the plane again skid more than 100 metres before coming to a final halt. Just about 100 metres ahead of the crashed plane stood a short but thick brick wall. Further ahead are a cluster of houses and the residents believe they had a narrow escape.
