Pilots did not report any emergency

By Pranab Dhal Samanta

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 30. Mystery shrouds the circumstances under which the aircraft carrying the senior Congress leader, Mr. Madhavrao Scindia, crashed near Motta village in Mainpuri district today.

According to Air Traffic Control (ATC) here, the aircraft - a Beechcraft C-90 - took off at 12-39 p.m. from Delhi airport and made its last contact with the Lucknow ATC from one of the reporting points, Kadas, around 1-30 p.m. Reporting points are understood to be sites on the flight path from where it is mandatory for the pilot to establish contact with the nearest ATC.

At Kadas, the last point for Mr. Scindia's flight, the pilot did not report any problem and said the aircraft was cruising at a height of 14,000 feet. Events that followed have foxed authorities here as there was no further radio contact with the pilots, Mr. Vivek Gupta and Ms. Ritu Malik.

While an element of confusion prevailed over whether the pilot on board was Mr. Vivek Gupta or Mr. Ray Gautam, reliable sources here confirmed that the name entered in the official records of the ATC was that of Mr. Gupta. One of the officials of the company contracted by Jindal Strips for carrying out the maintenance of their flights denied such reports and referred to Mr. Gupta as a close friend and termed his death as a ``personal loss.''

The travelling time for the flight to Kanpur was an hour and 10 minutes and no information of any delay or diversion from the flight path has been noted so far. Sources here are also sceptical of any effort by the pilots to carry out an emergency landing as either of them would have tried to establish some sort of radio contact before trying to do so.

Even in case of an emergency, the sources said, the pilot would have tried to head for any of the three airfields in Kanpur. Apart from the Chakeri Air Force airfield, there are airstrips at Kalyanpur nearby and within the premises of the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur.

As for the aircraft, it is understood that the Beechcraft C-90 is one of the most popular small aircraft used largely by executives and politicians the world over. It is a twin-engine aircraft that can cruise at a maximum of 30,000 feet and even if one of the engines were to fail, the aircraft can be steered and brought down safely at the nearest airfield.

The aircraft used by Mr. Scindia belonged to Jindal Strips and was maintained by India International Aviation Ltd. According to officials of the company, the aircraft was safe for flying and was in order before take-off. According to sources, while the senior pilot, Mr. Gupta, had an experience of over 1,400 hours of flying, Ms. Malik was a new recruit.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : Scindia killed in plane crash
Next     : Osama in our custody: Taliban