BSF crash: Plane of same make crashed in 1992, says DGCA report

NEW DELHI: Nearly 10 days after a Border Security Force (BSF) Super King Air B-200 aircraft crashed at the Delhi airport killing 10 people on board, it has now emerged that exactly the same make plane of BSF had crashed at Delhi Airport in August 1992 also. While last week's crash was caused due to a serious technical failure, the 1992 crash may have been the first pilot-caused crash in India.

TOI has accessed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's ( DGCA) probe report of that crash, which states that the pilot had asked the co-pilot to get off the plane on the runway; took off alone without air traffic control ( ATC) clearance and seconds later the plane crashed.

"BSF Beechcraft B-200 Super King aircraft (VT-EOA) was engaged in local flying (circuits and landings) at IGI Airport, Delhi, on August 27, 1992. There were two persons on board the aircraft, including the commander. After two circuits and landings, the commander asked for full stop landing. However, after landing the commander asked the ATC about one more circuit to which the controller gave consent and asked him to line up on runway 28 for take off," the report says.

"At this stage, the co-pilot on board was disembarked. The aircraft took off without ATC clearance and turned left for circuit. Thereafter, it was seen going down in a nose down attitude and hit the ground. It caught fire and was destroyed," it says, adding that the pilot—the only person on this aircraft—received fatal injuries.

The DGCA probe found a probable cause of this accident. "The exact cause of the accident could not be confirmed. However, on the basis of evidence on record, the probability of deliberate attempt to crash the aircraft by the late captain could not be ruled out. The probability of incapacitation of the captain during the last circuit has also not been ruled out," the DGCA report says.