Chartered plane crashes in Mumbai suburb; five killed

MUMBAI: Five persons were killed when a 12-seater aircraft crashed in a crowded Mumbai suburb on Thursday, the second air mishap in Maharashtra in as many days.

Those killed include two pilots and two aircraft maintenance engineers on board and a pedestrian in the Ghatkopar area where the plane crashed, police said.

The pilot and flight test engineer of a Sukhoi SU-30M aircraft of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited had ejected safely after it crashed near Nashik yesterday.

The plane, which crashed in the Jagruti Nagar locality shortly after 1 pm on Thursday, once belonged to the Uttar Pradesh government and was sold to UY Aviation, an official said.

The King Air C90 12-seater aircraft had taken off from the Juhu airstrip on a test flight, he said.

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to investigate the plane crash, an official said.

A team of DGCA officials rushed to the crash site for a preliminary investigation, the official said. It is expected that the detailed enquiry will be made by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), he added.

As reports of the crash came in, police, fire brigade and disaster management teams rushed to the spot and bodies of those killed were taken to the nearby Rajawadi hospital in Ghatkopar, a civic official said.

A fire brigade official said, “Our control room got a call at 1.15 pm informing a plane crash. Our jawans were immediately rushed to the site to launch the rescue operation. Four fire engines and as many water tankers were rushed to douse the fire that occurred after the plane crashed.”

Meanwhile, Prabhu has expressed profound shock over the air crash and directed concerned officials of the ministry to rush to the crash site and extend all possible help and assistance, an official said.

“The aircraft took off from Juhu airport for a test flight. There were two pilots and two aircraft maintenance engineers on board. All of them, along with one person on the ground, are dead,” a DGCA official said.

Moments before a small Beechcraft C 90 crashed at a Mumbai suburb Thursday afternoon the pilot swerved to avoid hitting any residential building, saving many lives, tweeted former aviation minister Praful Patel.

The crash site was near to buildings under construction, so there were very few people there at the time. Praful Patel praised the pilot, saying she had avoided a bigger tragedy at the cost of her own life.