Date:28/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/28/stories/2008082858290100.htm

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Indian trainee pilot dies in mid-air collision

MELBOURNE: A trainee pilot from India, who was on his first solo flight, died after his plane collided mid-air with another light aircraft just metres away from a residential area here on Wednesday.

Akash Ananth, 24, an aviation student, crashed his Cessna 150 into a garage in the Cheltenham area at 12.40 p.m. local time, barely missing several homes and a school, Australian media reported.

Witnesses said one of the planes clipped the other’s tail. The male pilot aboard the other plane, a Piper Warrior, was also an Indian trainee but was accompanied by a qualified pilot, The Age reported. They were not injured and landed the plane safely at a nearby Moorabbin airport.

Stuart Rushton, president of the Royal Victorian Aero Club which owned both the aircraft, said Ananth’s death was tragic.

Chris Sullivan of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said it was too early to say how the collision happened. — PTI