Two pilots were seriously injured after a training aircraft of the Madhya Pradesh Flying Club crashed at Indore airport on Wednesday.
According to information reaching Bhopal, the incident occurred when the pilots were carrying out what is called a ``touch and go manoeuvre’’.
The two-seater Cessna aircraft crashed about 500 m from the runway.
The injured, assistant pilot instructor Capt Pawandeep Singh Pabla and commercial pilot Arshad Qureshi have been admitted to the Aurobindo Hospital in the city.
PTI adds:
“The Flying Club’s plane Cessna 152, that is used for training purpose, crashed near the boundary wall of the airport while it was on a training sortie,” Airport’s Acting Director Sanjay Agrawal said.
The aircraft took off for the first time around 10.39 a.m. and returned to the airport in ten minutes. It proceeded for another round, but around 10.55 a.m. it lost contact with the Air Traffic Controller (ATC), Agrawal said.
Soon, an alert was sounded and fire brigade employees and a rescue team were rushed in search of the plane, which was found crashed near the airport’s boundary wall located about 500 meters away from the runway at 11.10 AM.
The two injured pilots were immediately taken to Mohak Hightech Speciality Hospital. Qureshi is in a serious condition, Hospital’s Neuro Surgery Department’s Head Dr Shrikant Rege said.
“Qureshi suffered serious injuries on his head, face and both the legs. He has lost a lot of blood as well. We are trying our best to pull him out of the serious condition,” Rege said.
“The exact reason behind the accident is not yet known,” Flying Club’s Chief Instructor Mandar Mahajan said adding, “We are unable to say anything on the issue till our two pilots gain consciousness. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) probe would clear the same.”
Mahajan denied that Qureshi was a trainee pilot and added that he is a Commercial Pilot Licence holder and is working for the MP Flying Club.
