PUNE: A trainee pilot, on a solo cross-country flight, suffered minor injuries after a Cessna 152 (VT-ALI) trainer aircraft of a flying school in Baramati crash-landed on an agriculture field at Kadbanwadi in Indapur tehsil, about 135km from the city, around 11.30am on Monday.
Villagers rushed to help Bhavika Rathod (22) from Pune and took her to the primary health centre at Shelgaon in Indapur. Her condition is stable. The aircraft belonged to the Academy of Carver Aviation Private Limited (ACAPL), which runs the flying school in Baramati.
Neither Rathod nor her family members could be contacted, but an official from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told TOI that preliminary investigation pointed towards a suspected power loss. "On July 25, a Carver Aviation Cessna 152 aircraft on solo cross-country flight made a crash landing while 15nm (nautical mile) inbound to the Baramati Airfield due to suspected power loss," the DGCA official said.
Vaibhav Shah, the financial in-charge at the ACAPL, told TOI, "The trainee pilot had completed 136 hours of flying. She has suffered some minor bruises. Whenever such incidents happen, as per regulations, we inform the DGCA immediately. We did the same in this case too."
Trainee pilot bruised in crash landing, lens on 'power loss'
Shah said, "Once their investigation is done, they suggest certain things and we follow them diligently. The DGCA is investigating the matter now."
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted, "The trainee aircraft crash at Indapur in Pune district is unfortunate. No fatalities have been reported. Praying for the recovery of injured pilot Bhavika Rathod. DGCA has commenced investigation to ascertain the cause of the incident."
The Cesna aircraft had taken off from the DGCA-approved Carver Aviation's training facility spread over 3,89,000sq ft with a control tower of its own and a 7,700ft runway, among other infrastructure facilities in Baramati. The academy maintains a training fleet of 11 single- and multi-engine Cessna and Partenavia aircraft.
A team from the aviation academy, the Pune rural police and other local authorities rushed to the accident site.
Superintendent of police (Pune rural) Abhinav Deshmukh told TOI, "Local villagers, who witnessed the crash landing, told the police that the aircraft seemed to lose height suddenly and dropped into the field. The villagers pulled out the injured trainee pilot before rushing her to the hospital. The experts are assessing the circumstances and the cause of the accident."
Deshmukh said, "The trainee pilot told the local police and the villagers that she ran out of fuel. As of now, we don't know if the aircraft developed any technical snags or if there was any other reason for the accident. The DGCA authorities will examine it."
Shelgaon PHC's medical officer Dr Pranali Bhajgawali told TOI, "The trainee pilot suffered a minor injury to her chin caused by the impact of the crash landing. She was discharged after securing a consent from our medical officials."
Assistant inspector Birappa Lature of the Walchandnagar police in rural Pune said, "We have asked the flying school authorities to report to the police station for recording their statement. For now, we have made a station diary about the accident."
