In a tragic incident, a young pilot of a two-seater training aircraft, which went missing on Tuesday, after it took off from Bisri Airfield in Gondia in Maharashtra, was killed when it crashed into the mountains.
The wreckage of the plane, belonging to Rajiv Gandhi National Flying Institute in Gondia, was found near Chhindwara on Wednesday, police said, adding the pilot’s body was also recovered from the crash site.
The 19-year-old trainee pilot Suhail Ansari, who was on a solo sortie, lost his way due to the fog, Chhindwara district Superintendent of Police Purshottam Sharma said. He hailed from Bijnore district in Uttar Pradesh. Due to presence of dense fog, the plane hit the mountains in Sitadongri and crashed, Sharma said, adding that the people of Pandhan village near Sitadongri informed the police about the plane crash following which a search was launched.The aircraft, owned by Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Akademy in Rae Bareli in UP, took off from Gondia at 12.30 pm on Tuesday and was due to return at 2.45 pm. However, it lost touch with the air traffic control after take off. The ATC tried contacting Ansari, but both the aircraft and the pilot remained untraceable. A search plane also failed to trace the missing aircraft on Tuesday.
Every year during peak winter season, trainee pilots from the Rae Bareli-based institute come to Birsi airport in Gondia for their training as foggy weather condition in North India during this period is not suitable for flying training. This year also a fleet of trainee aircraft and pilots are in Birsi, where weather remains largely clear.