Chennai/Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday ordered a CID inquiry into the massive fire accident that took place late Monday night at a hangar in old (Begumpet) airport. Five training Cessna aircraft along with state government's Augusta helicopter were gutted in the fire.
While initial reports suggested electric short circuit as the cause, police officials taking part in the investigation said they were looking at all possible angles including sabotage.
The hangar is maintained by the Andhra Pradesh Aviation Academy, which was operating the five training aircraft. Close to a dozen fire fighters were pressed into service to put off the fire that came under control after the day broke, according to reports.
The Air Force staff also assisted in extinguishing the fire, a spokesperson of the Defence forces said. The Air Force also uses the airport for training purpose and has a separate hangar. However, it did not suffer any damage.
19/12/12 Business Standard
