50-year-old trainer aircraft crash near Belagavi airport due to fuel shortage: Centre

The civil aviation ministry said that an over 50-year-old Cessna 172 trainer aircraft made a crash landing near Belagavi airport due to insufficient fuel. They confirmed that both pilots are safe and the craft belonged to Redbird Flight Training Academy.

The aircraft VT-EUC was flying from Kalaburagi to Belagavi, and crashed landed in an open field near Vijayapura, around 50 to 70 kilometres from the Belagavi airport.

The ministry said in a statement that the crash landing happened "due to suspected fuel starvation experienced by the aircraft" and that the plane was manufactured in 1975.

The flight instructor and a trainee pilot were onboard the aircraft, which broke into three pieces after the landing, PTI reported.

The aircraft's certificate of registration with Redbird was issued on May 23, 2023 and the certificate of airworthiness was issued on September 20, 2023. According to the ministry, Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC) was issued on August 1, 2025 and is valid till August 3, 2026.

The Pilot In Command (PIC) had 734 hours of flying experience.

Redbird Flight Training Academy has 48 planes in its fleet and its Flying Training Organisation (FTO) approval is valid till July 22, 2030.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved the academy as a FTO on July 23, 2020, as per the statement.

The ministry said "further investigation will be carried out by DGCA/AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau)".

Based on evidence, it looked like that the Pilot-In-Command and the Trainee Pilot forgot to uplift enough fuel for the flight as a result of which there was a forced landing of the aircraft, a senior official at the Redbird Flight Training Academy told PTI.

There was no official statement from the academy.

(With PTI inputs)