UP Govt Aircraft That Crashed In Mumbai Did Not Have A Certificate Of Airworthiness

A 26-year-old charter aircraft, on its way to a landing at Juhu airport during a test flight, crashed into open space near a construction site in the crowded Mumbai suburb of Ghatkopar on Thursday afternoon, killing all four crew members and a labourer on the ground. Had the King Air C90 aircraft, which appeared to have lost control when it was around 700 feet over the ground, plunged into any of the highrises in the surroundings, it would have been a major tragedy.

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Both pilots, Capt Pradeep Rajput and Capt Maria Zuberi, along with aircraft maintenance engineer Surabhi Gupta and junior technician Manish Pandey died on the spot. A construction labourer, Govind Dubey, was killed in the fire that broke out when the jet fuel tank exploded. At least 35 workers, who were on a lunch break in the basement of the under-construction building, had a lucky escape.

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Two of the labourers who were on the ground floor were injured. The aircraft, which was on its first flight after being grounded for around nine years, is suspected to have crashed due to mechanical failure. The pilots gave out no distress message or ¡°Mayday¡± call to Mumbai airport¡¯s air traffic controller. Around 1.10 pm, onlookers along Jivdaya lane saw the plane coming down engulfed in flames.

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¡°We were waiting for an autorickshaw when we saw a burning plane falling. It all happened so suddenly. Within seconds it crashed and was engulfed in smoke,¡± said Nami and Malay Shah, two teens who live nearby.

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Nami and Malay Shah, two teens who live in Girdhar building near the crash site, said, ¡°We heard three blasts one after the other.¡± The twin-engine turboprop had departed for a 50-minute test flight from Juhu airport at 12.20 pm after a puja. Sources from Mumbai and UP said it was the first time the aircraft had taken flight after suffering severe damage in a crash in Allahabad in 2009.

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¡°It was owned by the UP government and the cabinet decided to dispose it of than spend heavily to repair it,¡± said a former UP government official. The aircraft was finally sold in 2014¡ªafter three unsuccessful auctions¡ª to a Pune-based company, which then sold it to Mumbai-based U Y Aviation Pvt Ltd, its current owner.

Anil Chauhan, accountable manager of UY Aviation, said the aircraft was in ¡°the hangar of a maintenance company, Indamer, for over a year and a half, undergoing major repairs. When asked when was the last time it flew, he said, ¡°It was earlier with the UP government and must have flown about six years ago¡¯¡¯.

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¡°Though we have ownership of the aircraft, it was under the care of Indamer company. The aircraft was not yet handed over to us, it did not have a certificate of airworthiness,¡¯¡¯ said Chauhan. The take-off was captured on camera by Indamer engineers ¡ª the video is doing rounds on social media ¡ª and one can hear applause as the aircraft lifts off the runway.

As it slowly climbs out, an onlooker encouragingly shouts ¡°C¡¯mon baby¡¯¡¯. Rajeev Gupta, CEO of Indamer, said the cause of crash is under investigation by the DGCA safety wing. The ill-fated flight left several unanswered questions. Said a senior commander, who is also a KingAir C-90 examiner: ¡°Test flights shouldn¡¯t be carried out in poor weather. It was raining heavily in Mumbai when the aircraft lifted off, that isn¡¯t an ideal condition, the test flight should have been postponed.¡±

Senior Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia had died in a King Air C90 crash in 2001. Ghatkopar police are in the process of registering a case of accidental death.