Two killed as trainer aircraft crashes in Odisha's Dhenkanal

ANGUL: Two persons, including a female trainee pilot were killed as a trainer aircraft crash landed at about 6.30am on Birasal airstrip on Monday. The deceased have been identified as Aanish Fatima (20) lady trainee pilot and Sanjay Kumar Jha, the trainer.
According to sources, as soon as the plane took off, it crash landed and the two occupants were killed on the spot. The bodies were kept at Kamakhyanagar hospital.
The Birasal Aviation Institute was established last year and has capacity to train 90 trainees in a batch.The institute was closed due to Covid-19 pandemic. It was reopened only on June 1 after relaxation in lockdown.
Though the cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained, technical snag might be a reason behind the crash, sources said. Weather conditions also can't be ruled out as a cause of the accident.
“We suspect there was some technical snag, leading to the crash. The aircraft toppled for some time in the air after the take-off and came crashing down on the airstrip’s runway itself. The duo were rushed to nearby hospital where doctors declared them dead,” inspector general of police (north central range) Narsingh Bhol told TOI.
The IGP said Fatima and Jha earlier had one round of successful flying in the morning. “They went for the second round of flying when the unfortunate tragedy struck. The flying institute that started functioning last year is being run in public private partnership (PPP) mode. The flying institute’s office is located in Bhubaneswar. The flying training was suspended due to Covid-19 outbreak before it resumed operations from June 1,” Bhol said.