Pilot's Plane Crash-Landed On Gwalior Runway, Govt Gave Him Rs 85 Cr Bill To Pay: What Happened

The pilot of the ill-fated state aircraft of the Madhya Pradesh government that crash landed in Gwalior on May 6, 2021, has been handed over a bill of ? 85 crore by the state government. Why? For causing damage to an aircraft last year because he crash-landed at the Gwalior airport.

Dubbed as "Covid warriors" for putting their lives at risk during the pandemic, Captain Majid Akhtar, along with his co-pilot, was ferrying samples of suspected COVID-19 patients and a shipment of drugs used to treat infected patients when the aircraft hit the arrestor barrier on the runway during landing.

gwalior-runway

The state-owned aircraft, a Beech Craft King Air B 250 GT, was carrying 71 boxes of Remdesivir from Ahmedabad to Gwalior when it landed on the Gwalior runway after hitting the arrestor barrier. Three persons, including pilot Majid Akhtar, co-pilot Shiv Jaiswal and naib tehsildar Dilip Dwivedi, had escaped with minor injuries.

Breakup of Rs 85 crore bill

The Madhya Pradesh government, while handing out the charge sheet to captain Mazid Akhtar last week, had alleged that the plane that cost around Rs 60 crore was reduced to scrap because of the crash. The government further stated that it had to hire planes from other private operators as a consequence that cost another Rs 25 crore.

Instagram

Notably, the state government is silent over how the Beech Craft King Air B 250 GT was allowed to fly without following up on the mandatory insurance protocols. According to an aviation department insider, the state government could have recovered the cost of the plane even after it was reduced to scrap had the insurance protocols been followed.

Captain refutes charges of negligence

However, Captain Akhtar has refuted charges of negligence that allegedly caused a loss of Rs 85 crore to the state exchequer. Further, in his reply to the chargesheet that has been accessed by India Today, Akhtar said the crash was caused by the arrestor barrier installed at the Gwalior airport about which he was not informed by the air traffic controller (ATC).

Captain Mazid, who has a flying experience of over 27 years, also alleged that he was not provided the contents of the black box which contains all the instructions received from the Gwalior ATC.

ANI

In May, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's civil aviation regulator, had suspended Akhtar's flying licence for a year. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is also investigating the case. As per the suspension letter, a copy of which is in possession of PTI, Akhtar "flew the aircraft very low and failed to sight the arrester barrier" before the runway.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.