Grounded for six yrs, Punjab plane crashes on test flight

Jugiana (Ludhiana): A 26-year-old Beechcraft C-90 King plane owned by the Punjab Government crashed here on Wednesday morning killing both its occupants, the pilot and the co-pilot. The pilot saved many lives by steering the aircraft towards an abandoned industrial unit before it crash-landed.
The aircraft, which was on a test flight after remaining grounded for over six years, caught fire soon after it hit the ground.
The charred bodies of Capt Dalip Kataria and Capt Manjit Singh Khokhar were retrieved from the remains of the plane that crashed into the premises of Thapar Agro Mills located in village Jugiana some 20 km from Ludhiana. SSP R K Jaiswal said the aircraft was on a test flight and had flown from Chandigarh at about 10.50 am. “The plane crashed at about 11.30 am and the last communication that the pilot had with the ATC Sahnewal was at about 11.25 am.” It has been learnt that the pilot had been requesting permission to land at the airport and was allowed to do. However, as the plane was about to land at an airstrip it was asked to change to another air strip for which the plane had to make another circuit.
It has been learnt that former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh had refused to use the plane saying that it was not fit for flying. However, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had ordered repairs of the craft and it was being put to various tests before starting regular flights.
29/10/08 Amrita Chaudhry/Indian Express

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Oct 2008, Safety Oct 2008