Two days after the husband of the co-pilot of the aircraft that crashed in Ghatkopar questioned the air-worthiness of the plane owned by UY Aviation, the company on Sunday issued its first official statement to “put things into perspective”.
UY Aviation said it was committed to extending help and assistance to victims of the tragedy, but also sought to clarify that the aircraft was not flying under its non-scheduled operator’s permit since it was yet to be released into service.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Juhu-based company said it is extending its full cooperation to regulatory and law enforcement agencies. “Before undertaking the test flight, it was ensured that all necessary requirements and approvals were in place,” the statement said.
Four crew members, including two pilots, and a pedestrian lost their lives when the 12-seater Beechcraft C-90 King Air on a test flight crashed into an under-construction building on Thursday.
Prabhat Kathuria, the husband of co-pilot Marya Zuberi, and S.P. Gupta, the Haryana-based father of aircraft maintenance engineer Surabhi Gupta, had alleged that the test flight was performed despite adverse weather conditions and questioned as to who had issued permission to fly.
The aircraft took off from Juhu Aerodrome at approximately 12.20 p.m. on June 28 with two pilots employed by UY Aviation and two technical personnel of MRO Indamer Aviation Private Limited on board. It flew for approximately 40 minutes as per the air test profile, and reportedly lost contact with Mumbai ATC around 1 p.m.
The aircraft, which earlier belonged to the Uttar Pradesh government, had been declared scrap after making a belly landing. It was purchased by Pune-based Silver Jubilee Aviation Pvt. Ltd from the U.P. government and was sent directly to Indamer Aviation for rebuilding, before UY Aviation bought the plane, the company said.
COMMents
SHARE