Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

Published in The Hindu. 27 May 2011

An impromptu decision to enjoy the cool night breeze on the terrace of their two-storey home cost the mother, sister and wife of young Deepak Sehrawat their lives when a small aircraft crashed into their house on a narrow by-lane of the densely-populated Parvatia Colony here on Wednesday night.

Deepak, who is in his 20s, was outside the house with his sister’s young son, and his father was near the gate when the tragedy struck. They survived while their female relatives and all seven onboard the aircraft were killed. The aircraft was carrying to the capital a critically ill patient from Patna, along with medical professionals of the Apollo Hospital in Delhi.

Deepak’s mother Vedvati was at neighbour Sunil Sharma’s house, minutes before the tragedy struck. “As there was no electricity, Vedvati said she was returning to her house to spend some time on the terrace, as the weather had all of a sudden turned windy. She, along with her daughter and daughter-in-law, had just reached the terrace when the aircraft crashed into their house,” said Sunil Sharma.

A driver, Deepak had married Rani only in February this year. Eyewitnesses said around 10.30 p.m., they heard the roaring sound of an engine and wondered what the source was. Soon, some people saw a small aircraft hovering dangerously close to the buildings. “Our family was sleeping on the terrace when we heard the sound of an approaching aircraft. The plane crashed into our neighbours’ house in front of our very eyes and exploded into a ball of fire. It sounded as if two gas cylinders had exploded together,” said another neighbour Jitender Upadhyaya.

The aircraft destroyed two houses.

Parts of the terrace floor where the aircraft crashed had broken to form gaping holes, extending to the base of the house. The mangled remains of the aircraft’s glossy bright blue fuselage were perched on the broken terrace. Its interiors were ravaged by the fire. Twisted and jagged metal sheets and destroyed component parts were intermingled with the debris of the two broken houses.

Neighbours and rescue personnel pitched in to douse the fire and extract the bodies from the debris. “The police took some time in coming. However, soon after they arrived, they were helped by the locals in extracting the bodies. Ambulances and fire tenders also arrived soon after,” said Sunil Sharma.

Read the original article: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/when-death-came-suddenly-from-the-sky/article2052896.ece

Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

Published in The Hindu. 26 May 2011

The Union government will appoint a committee of enquiry to probe the crash of a small air ambulance in a residential area in neighbouring Faridabad on Wednesday. Ten people, including all seven onboard, were killed in the freak tragedy.

The committee will also make recommendations to prevent such accidents, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. A preliminary report has been received by the Ministry.

The nine-seater aircraft of Air Charter Services India Private Limited on its way from Patna to Delhi was carrying a 20-year-old jaundice-afflicted Rahul Raj, doctors Rajesh Jain and Syed Arshad Abbas and nurse Cyril Joy employed with the Apollo Hospital, Delhi, and a cousin of the patient.

The crash killed all seven and also three women — Sarita, Vedvanti and Rani — when the plane smashed into their house.

A Directorate General of Civil Aviation team has inspected the site.

According to DGCA Director of Air Safety (Delhi) Ram Nath, who was present at the site, the strong winds could have caused the small single engine turboprop to crash. “Based on our initial investigations, it appears that strong winds and stormy weather may have been responsible for the incident,” he said.

“Such small aircraft do not have a cockpit voice recorder or black box which can help in ascertaining the cause of these kinds of incidents. The black box could have helped us gather more information about the incident,” he added.

Delhi airport sources also said sudden bad weather could have been responsible. “On Wednesday the weather was not favourable in the areas adjoining the capital and several aircraft were deviating from their path as there were very strong winds,” said sources.

However, a technical malfunction may also have been a contributory factor as the pilot had communicated to the Delhi Air Traffic Control that the aircraft was unable to withstand the strong winds at an altitude of 8,000 feet. Though the ATC asked the pilot to maintain the altitude, he could not do so and the aircraft began to descend.

The last contact of the pilot with the ATC was reportedly around 10.45 p.m.

Read the original article: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/panel-to-probe-plane-crash/article2050774.ece