VT-UPZ, the 23-year-old Beechcraft C90 turboprop aircraft that crashed into a building in Mumbai’s suburban Ghatkopar on Thursday, had just undergone a major overhaul and was on a test flight to get an airworthiness certificate.
The aircraft, previously owned by the Uttar Pradesh government, has had a history of accidents.
“The plane had met with an accident in Allahabad, following which it was sold,” Avnish Awasthi, an official of the Uttar Pradesh government, said. It was declared scrap after it made a belly landing.
Officials said the aircraft was supposed to undergo a test flight on Wednesday but it was put off by a day due to rain.
Officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the aircraft was still registered in the name of Galaxy Corporation, which had purchased it from the Uttar Pradesh government. The same was then purchased by UY Aviation, which has its registered office in Juhu. The officials said the plane had been on ground for the past two-and-half years since it required an overhaul.
The aircraft was on Thursday operated under Rule 15 of the Aircraft Act, which requires that all aircraft registered in the country to possess a current and valid Certificate of Airworthiness (C of A) before it is flown. The exception, as in the case of VT-UPZ was that an aircraft can be flown without a valid C of A for the purpose of flight test for renewal of C of A in the vicinity of the departing aerodrome.
Need for probe into maintenance practices
Aviation expert Vipul Saxena said a probe on the maintenance practices followed was important.
“There are three important points that this crash has raised. First, why should a test flight be carried out over a populated area. Second, why fly when it is raining and chances of sudden weather changes are possible, and third, why was it flying in the afternoon - when it is busy business time, both in the sly and on ground,” Saxena, a former Indian Air Force pilot, said.
