Trainee pilot killed in aircraft crash in Azamgarh district

Varanasi: A trainee pilot was killed after a trainer aircraft of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Academy (IGRUA), Raebareli crashed near Khairuddinpur area under the limits of Saraimir police station in Azamgarh district on Monday morning. As per the initial investigations, bad weather is being considered as the reason behind the crash.
Azamgarh SP Sudhir Kumar Singh said that a trainer aircraft TB20 (four-seater) of IDRUA Raebareli had taken off the Fursatganj airstrip.The trainee pilot identified as Konark Sharan of Haryana was on solo flight, he said adding that the pilot had to reach Mau before returning to Fursatganj.
However, when the aircraft entered the sky of Saraimir amidst thunderstorm and lightening at around 11.20am, the villagers noticed the uncontrolled aircraft grounding. The villagers claimed that the pilot tried to jump out with parachute but died after falling in a waterlogged field while the debris of the crashed aircraft were also found in neighbouring fields.
Singh said that the pilot’s body was sent for postmortem after reporting the matter to IGRUA. As per the details collected by Azamgath police from IGRUA authorities, Konark belonged to Palval district of Haryana and had completed his flight training of 125 hours including 52 hour solo flying successfully before going on Monday’s flight.
Konark had left Fursatganj at 10.30am, said the officials adding that the accident was reported at 11.30 am. It is suspected that the aircraft was stranded in clouds during thunderstorm and it crashed. Singh said that actual cause of crash would become clear after investigation.
Locals said that chaos prevailed whent hey saw the uncontrolled aircraft grounding. They also noticed body of the pilot before the Saraimir police could reach the spot. Later, SP Azamgah also reached there.