Maharashtra: Flight instructor dead, student injured in aircraft crash

A flight instructor was killed and a student injured when their training aircraft crashed in Jalgaon district of north Maharashtra on Friday, an official said.

The Tecnam two-seater plane of the Academy of Aviation Shirpur in Dhule district had taken off from the institute's airstrip around 3 pm and crashed at 3.45 pm, Academy Director Air Commodore Hitesh Patel (retd) told PTI.

While the instructor Capt Nurul Amen (28) died on the spot, the trainee student Anshika Gurjar (22) was injured and taken by road to Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital, he said.


The training flight was scheduled to return in two and a half hours after traversing the over 200 nautical miles distance between Shirpur and Shegaon, Air Commodore Patel said.

The plane crashed near Wardi village in Chopda area of the Satpura mountain range.

Expressing shock over the crash, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said an investigation team was being rushed to the site of the crash.

"Unfortunately, we lost the flight instructor $@$# the trainee is severely injured. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family $@$# prayers for the trainee's quick recovery," Scindia tweeted.