27 May,2011 08:36 AM IST | | Surender Sharma
Suggests a preliminary probe report by DGCA
Initial investigations into the Faridabad air crash by aviation regulator DGCA pointed towards high velocity winds and some technical malfunction as major reasons for the mishap that claimed ten lives.
Ground zero: Remains of the aircraft which crashed on Wednesday
night at a residential area in Faridabad. PICs/Mid day
"Minutes before the crash, the pilot reported to Delhi ATC that he was facing bad weather. He was asked not to descend but in the meantime the plane suddenly went off the radar. It seems a high gust flipped the aircraft," said informed sources in DGCA.
DGCA chief EK Bharat Bhushan could not be contacted. Joint Director AK Sharan confirmed to MiD DAY that the preliminary report had come. "It will be submitted to DGCA to on Friday," he said declining to share the content.
Civil aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi said in Delhi that a committee of inquiry has been set up by the ministry to probe all aspects of the accident. The ill-fated Swiss-made aircraft had a capacity to carry nine passengers and two pilots. The plane belonging to the Air Charter Services India Private Limited had crashed just 15 minutes before landing at the Delhi IGI airport killing seven people onboard and three - all women - on ground.
Sources said only 60 per cent of the entire aircraft, including parts of its fuselage and the tail, have been found and the remaining portion, including the cockpit, has been completely damaged and charred in the blaze. Flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or black box are not installed in small planes like the one which crashed.
A six-member DGCA team inspected the crash site, conducted wreckage-spotting and took photographs to study the impact, and how the aircraft crashed, when and where it hit the houses and where the bodies were found.
Wings clipped
The P-12 turboprop aircraft belongs to Delhi-based Air Chartered Services India Pvt Limited. The aircraft, with registration number VT-ACF, was manufactured in 2005.
