The wreckage of the Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft ‘Kiran-Mk 2' that crashed into a lake near Urapakkam on the city's outskirts on Tuesday will be sent to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for further investigation.
Though a preliminary enquiry revealed that engine failure led to the accident, the exact cause of the snag can only by ascertained by HAL engineers, a senior IAF officer said on Thursday.
The condition of the pilots who ejected from the plane just before it crashed and suffered injuries was said to be stable.
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The aircraft that was on a routine sortie with two trainers on board took off from the Flying Instructors School in Tambaram on Tuesday morning.
“We have recovered the Black Box and the statutory Court of Enquiry is on,” the official said.
Explaining how the police reached the crash site within minutes and pulled out the wing and tail of the submerged aircraft, Inspector General of Police (North Zone) C. Sylendra Babu commended the disaster management team of the Kancheepuram district police.
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“We got a call from the residents of Godavari Nagar abutting the Ayyancheri lake that some loud noise was heard in the vicinity. Some people ran towards the lake and found nothing…the aircraft had submerged almost completely. The Disaster Management Police reached the spot in less than half-an-hour and commenced the relief operation,” Dr. Babu said.
Police and Fire Service Personnel fished out the remains of the aircraft using ropes and wrecker under the supervision of the Kancheepuram Superintendent of Police S. Manoharan.