M A I N   N E W S

2 pilots die in air crash off Ludhiana
Mohit Khanna and Loveleen Bains
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 29
Just a week after it was cleared for flying, after a seven-year-long grounding, state government official VIP plane, King Air C-90 Beechcraft, crashed at an abandoned industrial unit of Thapar Agro Mill near Jugiana here this morning killing both pilots.

Pilot Dalip Singh Kataria and co-pilot Manjit Singh Khokhar were the only two on board.

The plane, which had taken off from the Chandigarh airbase at 10.50 am, faced landing trouble at Sahnewal airport and crashed around 11.30 am.

According to eyewitnesses, the plane took three rounds of the Sahnewal airbase and in the fourth attempt the aircraft tilted upside down and crashed 5 km away at Jugiana village.

The official of the Chandigarh airbase received the last message from the pilots at 11.25 am.

Punjab government civil aviation sources said the aircraft was not being used for some time and had been cleared for flying by the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) only last week after major repairs.

The eyewitnesses further said one of the pilots reportedly tried to dive from the plane before it crashed at the factory unit.

A major tragedy was averted as thousands of migrants reside just 500 m away from the crash site.

The crash caused a massive fire as dry bushes and wild vegetation in the abandoned area of the mill caught fire, but with the timely intervention of residents and fire fighters the fire was doused off.

Purchased in 1978, this aircraft was for seven years at Chandigarh Hanger after it had crashed landed at the Hisar airbase in 2001.

R.K Jaiswal, SSP, said, "The plane was on it first test flight to Sahnewal after it was repaired."

The forensic team and the teams from the Sahnewal airbase started searching for the crucial remains that could lead them to the exact cause of the crash.

Capt Sukjit Singh Hara, who is posted at the Sahnewal airbase as assistant flight instructor, said, "The recovery of the black box is very crucial as this will lead us to the exact cause of the crash. As both pilots were highly experienced, chances of human error are less”.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has rushed the secretary and the director, Civil Aviation, Vishawjeet Khanna and Gagandeep Singh Brar, respectively, to the crash site.

He has also expressed “deep shock and sorrow” over the tragic death of pilots Dalip Kataria and Manjit Singh, both of whom were "proud assets of the state."

According to the Chief Minister's media advisor Harcharan Bains, the plane was on a mandatory technical check-up flight prior to a VIP trip when it seemed to stall and begin losing height and crashed. The ill-fated plane had undergone a scheduled technical propeller service in Mumbai only yesterday. It had flown in into Chandigarh last evening, said Bains. The plane had also cleared the mandatory airworthiness certification from the Directorate General Civil Aviation, Government of India, about three weeks ago, he added.

Bains said both pilots, who were conducting the check-up flight, were among the most experienced pilots in the country, having logged 5,000 and 3,000 hours, respectively. They had earlier handled large commercial liners, including 747s, before being inducted by the Punjab government. Bains disclosed that the DGCA, Government of India, has constituted a two-member team to conduct an inquiry into the accident.

Pilots declared martyrs

The Punjab government has announced the status of martyrs for the dead pilots and an ex gratia grant of Rs 10 lakh each to their next of kin. According to Harcharan Bains, media advisor to the CM, the bodies of the two will be cremated with full state honours. Dr Upinderjit Kaur, education minister, will represent the Chief Minister at the funeral. Parkash Singh Badal will be away to Huzur Sahib to participate in the 300th Gurta Gaddi Diwas functions.

Punjab has lost many ace pilots
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 29
Punjab’s pioneer role in promoting civil aviation in general and pilot training in particular notwithstanding, the State has lost many of its top flyers in air crashes.

Some top pilots of the State, including Karminder Singh, RDS Sandhu and Pargat Singh, all died in air crashes.

If many of country’s top commercial pilots owe their successful careers in civil and commercial aviation to erstwhile flying clubs in Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, they also owe a special thanks to Karminder Singh, an ace pilot and excellent trainer himself.

Intriguingly, Karminder Singh died while on a test flight of a new prototype developed by Hindustan Aeronautics at Hardwar. After relinquishing charge as the longest serving civil aviation adviser of Punjab, Karminder was, in the last days of his distinguished flying career, working as a test pilot for Hindustan Aeronautics which was developing a new training aircraft.

It was Karminder Singh who was credited with training Sanjay Gandhi and some members of royal families, including those from Patiala.

In fact, when the Rashtriya Flying Academy came up at Bareilly in 80s, Karminder Singh was a consultant to the project.

RD Singh Sandhu and Pargat Singh died in the July '94 crash in Himachal Pradesh in which Governor Surendra Nath and several members of his family perished.

Besides RDS Sandhu and Pargat Singh, another Punjab pilot had died along with Dhirendra Brahmachari when the latter’s personal aircraft crashed near his Manatalai base in Jammu.

The aircraft that crashed near Sahnewal today was virtually jinxed. Though it remained in the state fleet for 26 years, it hardly logged 6,000 hours. The reason for the aircraft remaining out of operation had been non-availability of a qualified pilot.

And, one of the main reasons for scarcity of good trained pilots in the State had been a virtual closure of its flying clubs. Both private and national air carriers are recruiting whatever talent is available in the State.

In one of the previous governments, the state had negotiated with an experienced and highly qualified pilot, Capt Sandhawalia. But his appointment fell through because of the inability of the government to pay its chief pilot salary more than that of its chief secretary.

For a grounded aircraft to become airborne and airworthy, a long and tedious procedure is followed. It includes overhauling of the engine, making the air-frame worthy for flying besides several other checks and controls before it is test-flown and granted permission to fly again. Only recently, this aircraft got the airworthiness certificate from the director-general of civil aviation.

In recent years, Surinder Singh, and O P Jindal, both Haryana ministers, died when their personal aircraft of Jindal crashed. Surinder Singh was son of former chief minister Bansi Lal.

In September 2006, then Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and PWD Minister Partap Singh Bajwa had a providential escape after the helicopter in which they were to travel crashed into overhead electric wires in Gurdaspur district.

Punjab lost one of its former CMS, Justice Gurnam Singh, in an air crash. Singh was designated as India’s high commissioner to Australia. The other victims included Kumaramangalam, the then steel miniter, and some VIPs.

Ludhiana Crash
DGCA officials begin probe today
Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

Relatives of Manjeet Khokhar, a co-pilot of the Beachcraft C-90 King Air plane which crashed in Jugiana on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Verma

Chandigarh, October 29
A team of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), headed by its deputy director, Air Safety, will reach Ludhiana tomorrow morning to initiate an inquiry into the crash of Punjab’s VIP Beechcraft King Air C-90 aircraft near Ludhiana today morning.

According to sources here, the team, which is being headed by deputy director, Air Safety, Manish Chopra, will open the tapes containing the last words of the two pilots, Capt Dalip Kataria and Capt Manjit Singh Khokhar, which have been sealed by the Ludhiana Air Traffic Control (ATC) immediately after the incident.

According to preliminary inquiries made by the state Civil Aviation Department, there does not seem to be anything amiss. Civil Aviation secretary Vishwajeet Khanna, when contacted, said the pilots did not report anything out of the ordinary when they contacted the Ludhiana ATC to seek permission to land.

However, when on its first attempt to land the aircraft was slightly high, the tower told them to “open up” and go around before making another attempt. The tower also told them to make a final call on their second attempt to which the pilots replied “roger”. After this the ATC lost contact with the plane which crashlanded at the abandoned industrial unit of Thapar Agro Mill near Jugiana village in Ludhiana.

According to department sources here, the aircraft was made serviceable to fly state Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. They said this, however, was delayed because Captain Kataria did not have the mandatory 50 hours flying time on the aircraft that is a necessary condition for VIP flying. Keeping this in mind as well as the fact that Captain Kataria had not undertaken the instrument rating check on the aircraft, which Captain Khokhar had taken, the two proceeded to Ludhiana for the check with Captain Khokhar as the pilot in command. In Ludhiana they were scheduled to meet with DGCA-approved instructor Capt Amarjit Singh who was to fly with them as pilot in command for the test which was to take place today itself.

Meanwhile, according to advisor, Civil Aviation, Abhay Chandra the six-passenger seater Beechcraft King Air Air C 90 was flown in from Mumbai by the two pilots yesterday. He said the aircraft had gone in for a propeller overhaul, which is a mandatory after a five-year period. The aircraft had earlier also had its fuel carrying hoses changed and its left propeller overhauled.

According to the advisor, Civil Aviation, the aircraft was purchased in 1982 and has since logged 6,500 hours. He said the plane had been flying till 2004 after which flying did not take place because both its pilots and chief engineer left for greener pastures. He said the plane had passed fitness tests and was only grounded from January 2005 to August 2006. The plane has flown numerous VIPs, including former Chief Ministers as well as former Governor Gen Surendra Nath (retd) as well as former police chief J. F. Riberio.

The state government is presently using a seven-seater Dauphin N-3 helicopter which has been leased from Pawan Hans at a cost of around Rs 8 crore per year.