A 34-year-old trainee pilot flying a Cessna-172 R aircraft had a miraculous escape after the aircraft veered off the runway during take-off at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport here on Wednesday. The aircraft sustained serious damage when it dropped from around a height of 5 feet and veered off the runway, ploughing through the open ground adjacent to the runway.
As per the eyewitness account at the airport, the aircraft almost turned upside down, damaging the landing and nose-wheel of the aircraft apart from physical damages to the nose and belly portions of the aircraft.
Pilot and the incident
The trainee pilot, identified as Anoop M. Nair, was rushed to a nearby hospital where his condition is said to be stable. The incident occurred at 11.36 a.m. when the Cessna aircraft of Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology (RAGAAT) he was flying solo swerved off the runway during a routine solo training sortie.
Within minutes, the crash tenders and emergency services stationed at the airport which reached the site cordoned off the area, and took steps to prevent the aircraft from catching fire.
Commercial flights delayed
The crash forced the airport authorities to close down runway 32 for commercial operations for an hour on safety grounds. The incident has also led to the disruption of commercial flight operations at the Airport for a while.
Three domestic flights were delayed due to the accident and later the runway was opened for normal commercial flight operations by 12.36 p.m. Soon after the accident, the airport authorities submitted a report to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is expected to institute a detailed inquiry by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau to ascertain the cause of the accident.
