The pilot of a trainer aircraft was killed while a trainee pilot injured after it crashed in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district late on Thursday night.
Captain Vimal Kumar (50), resident of Patna, was killed in the crash while trainee pilot Sonu Yadav (23), who sustained injuries, was admitted to the government-run Sanjay Gandhi Medical College hospital, said Rewa collector Manoj Pushp.
The aircraft had taken off for a training sortie from Chorhatta airstrip and the crash happened some three kms away from it, said Chorhatta police station in-charge J.P. Patel. Eyewitnesses told the police that the site of the crash was close to a densely populated area, and had the aircraft not hit the temple, there could have been more causalties.
Prima facie poor visibility due to fog was said to be the reason for the crash.
“Due to fog, the aircraft hit the dome of the temple and got tangled in the cables and then crashed. The deceased pilot is Vimal Kumar from Patna, Bihar, staying in Nirmal City of Rewa and the injured Sonu Kumar is a resident of Jaipur. A probe has been ordered to find out how and why the incident occurred and the team has been asked to probe all the points and submit the report at the earliest. A technical team has also left Mumbai and is expected to reach [the spot] by evening,” said State Home Minister Narottam Mishra.
