Trainer aircraft crashes in Gujarat's Amreli, pilot killed

Earlier, in the first week of April, a Jaguar fighter jet of the IAF had also crashed at a village near Jamnagar IAF station in Gujarat, killing one pilot who failed to eject in time.

Ahmedabad: A trainee pilot was killed after a plane he was flying crashed in a residential area in Amreli town on Tuesday afternoon.

Police said that the trainee aircraft was completely gutted  as it caught fire soon after hitting the ground in an open plot near Shastrinagar in the town. 

Amreli district superintendent of police Sanjay Kharat said that trainee pilot Aniket Mahajan was flying solo. 

During his circuit training programme, Mahajan had taken off and landed four times. In the next round, for some reason, his plane crashed as he issued a mayday warning sign. The plane crash landed in Shastrinagar police station area," he added.

Mahajan was undergoing training at a private institute, identified as Vision Flying Institute, based in Amerli which had the single engine training aircraft. 

Police and firefighters had rushed to the spot where a large number of locals had gathered. Mahajan is reported to have died on the spot.

The tragedy comes less than a month after a trainee pilot survived a similar crash in Mehsana district. 

A 19-year-old trainee pilot suffered injuries after the plane crashed in the farm of Ucharpi village in Mehsana district on March 31. She was flying a Cessna, 152, belonging to Blue Ray Aviation Private Limited.