BSF aircraft crashes, 10 killed

A Border Security Force (BSF) aircraft, inducted into the force 20 years ago, crashed outside Delhi airport on Tuesday minutes after take off, killing all ten paramilitary personnel on board.

The twin-engine Beechcraft Super King B-200 took off from the airport at 9:37 AM but suddenly took a turn towards the airport only to hit a tree, then smashed into the boundary wall and landed in a sewage treatment plant in Palam area where the airport is located.

Of the ten passengers killed, three were officers. The plane, which was to return to Delhi the same evening, was ferrying the BSF's technical personnel to Ranchi where they were assigned to repair a Mi-17 V5 chopper that was engaged in anti-naxal operations. "The aircraft was completely burnt and all the personnel (on board) were charred to death in the crash," a BSF statement said.

All the bodies were recovered and sent to Safdarjung Hospital for post mortem. Eyewitnesses said that the aircraft failed to turn properly while attempting to return to the airport and was flying so low that it hit a building in SPG Complex in Dwarka Sector 8.

The incident could have resulted in more casualties if the plane had crashed into Shahbad Mohammadpur, a residential area adjoining the airport where a large number of employees reside.

While President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh conveyed their condolences to the families of the victims, Civil Aviation Ministry ordered an inquiry into the crash of the 11-seater plane that took place within three minutes of its take off.

Soon after the incident, BSF announced postponement of the Director General-level talks between BSF and its Bangladeshi counterparts that were to start on Tuesday.

As questions were raised whether the aircraft was fit to fly, BSF Director General D K Pathak said the plane was given a go-ahead for flying before its take off by ground technicians and staff.

"The aircraft was absolutely fit and had undergone major engine overhaul about six months back in Canada. We do not know the exact reason for the crash but what we know is that it took a virtual U-turn towards Palam air base after taking off and on return hit a tree and then the sewage treatment plant tank," Pathak said.

He also said the pilots -- Deputy Commandant (BSF) Bhagwati Prasad Bhatt and co-pilot Rajesh Shivrain (SSB) -- were very experienced and had carried VIPs and delegates of the two-day DGP conference held last week in Gujarat's Bhuj. "It will only be a conjecture to say what went wrong. The DGCA is probing and we have instituted a Court of Inquiry into it," Pathak said.