10 killed in plane crash in Faridabad, Plane crash nightmare for residents in Faridabad locality

New Delhi:  A nine-seater chartered aircraft with seven people on board crashed into a densely-populated residential colony in Faridabad on Wednesday night, killing ten people, including all seven on board. (See Pictures) 

Three of those killed in the accident were residents of the two-storey house in Parvatia Colony into which the plane crashed. All three were women - identified as the wife, daughter and daughter-in-law of the owner of the house. Ten people were said to be inside the house at the time of the crash. While the owner and his son escaped unharmed, four others were injured. 

 

The plane crashed on the roof of a house and broke into two due to impact. While the body of the plane got stuck on the roof, the nose of the plane landed on the narrow street below. It also caught fire soon as it crashed.

The PC-12 single-engine aircraft was flying to the Capital from Patna, rushing a seriously-ill patient, Rahul Raj, for specialised medical treatment when the crash occurred at 10.50 pm, fifteen minutes after it lost contact with the Air Traffic Control at Delhi airport.

Class 12 student Rahul was being airlifted from Jagdish Memorial hospital in Patna to Apollo Hospital in Delhi to be treated for jaundice and first stage of hepatitis. He was in coma and on ventilator.

Apart from Rahul, there were two crew members and two doctors on board. Also accompanying Rahul were his uncle and cousin brother. All seven on board were killed.

"Rahul was ill. We took him to a nursing home in Patna. The treatment was going on, he was kept in ICU but his condition was not improving. So we planned to take him to Delhi. A chartered plane came from Delhi to take him. There were doctors in the plane. When the plane was reaching Delhi, it was caught in gusty wind. That's when the plane crashed," Rahul Raj's grandfather told NDTV.

The plane was reportedly caught in bad weather and nosedived from a height of about 8,000 feet. With six aircraft in queue, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) had asked the plane to stop descent at 11,000 feet. 

According to an ATC official, "apart from the difficulty of operating a single-engine aircraft, doing so in heavy wind conditions can cause a disaster. In heavy wind conditions, the backdraft from the wind hitting the tail can make the aircraft unstable and cause it to nosedive".

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated a probe into the matter. "We have appointed an Inspector Accident who will make the sketch of the area and take the investigation further," AK Sharan, Joint Director DGCA said.

The aircraft, registration number VT-ACF, was being operated by Air Charter Services India. The aircraft was manufactured in 2005.