Mumbai: Five people were killed after a chartered aircraft crashed near an under-construction building in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar on Thursday afternoon.
Those killed include two pilots and two aircraft maintenance engineers on board and a pedestrian in the Ghatkopar area where the plane crashed, police said. Sources said the plane crashed in an open area near the building and the death toll could have been much higher if it crash landed in a busy area.
The plane, which crashed in the Jagruti Nagar locality shortly after 1 pm, once belonged to the Uttar Pradesh government and was sold to UY Aviation, an official said. The King Air C90 12-seater aircraft had taken off from the Juhu airstrip on a test flight, he said.
Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct an investigation into the plane crash, an official said.
A team of DGCA officials rushed to the crash site for a preliminary investigation, the official said. It is expected that the detailed enquiry will be done by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), he added.
As reports of the crash came in, police, fire brigade and disaster management teams rushed to the spot and bodies of those killed were taken to the nearby Rajawadi hospital in Ghatkopar, a civic official said.
A fire brigade official said, "Our control room got a call at 1.15 pm informing a plane crash. Our jawans were immediately rushed at the site to launch the rescue operation. Four fire engines and as many water tankers were rushed to douse the fire that occurred after the plane crashed."
Meanwhile, Prabhu has expressed deep shock over the air crash and directed concerned officials of the ministry to rush to the crash site and extend all possible help and assistance, an official said.
"The aircraft took off from Juhu airport for a test flight. There were two pilots and two aircraft maintenance engineers on board. All of them, along with one person on the ground, are dead," a DGCA official said.
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