BSF plane crashes near Delhi airport, all 10 on board killed

NEW DELHI | MUMBAI: For Indian aviation, Tuesday was a turbulent day. A Border Security Force ( BSF) plane crashed near the Delhi airport killing all the 10 people on board, while in another accident, an Air India aircraft suffered damage after a Jet Airways bus hit it at the Kolkata Airport.

No casualty was reported from Kolkata. The government has ordered an inquiry into the BSF plane crash, while Jet and Air India are probing the other accident.

The BSF plane, a Beech Superking B-200, took off from Delhi at 9:37 AM for Ranchi with two pilots and eight technicians on board. The plane crashed outside the airport’s boundary wall when it was returning to land due to a technical problem detected five minutes after the takeoff.

Sources said a pilot of the aircraft asked the Delhi air traffic control (ATC) for a priority landing and full emergency was declared and measures put in place. The ATC asked two other approaching aircraft to be on the stand-by as it allowed the BSF aircraft priority landing.

The plane, which lost control with the Air Traffic Control at around 9.50 AM, hit a wall before bursting into flames and crashed into the airport boundary wall near a railway track and landed in a sewage treatment plant.

According to details available on the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s website, the plane was manufactured in 1994. BSF has been operating it since August 3, 1995.

The inquiry ordered by the government will examine whether there was any delay ATC in giving priority to the BSF plane, home ministry officials said.

Executives at both Jet and Air India said they are investigating the accident in Kolkata.

In that incident at 5.40 AM, the bus carrying two crew members of Jet crashed into one of the engines of the ATR 42 turbo prop aircraft, causing considerable damage. A Jet spokesman said the airline hasn't heard from Air India on the extent of damage or claims of compensation. An Air India executive, however, said the national carrier has filed for damages, but didn’t provide further details.

The driver of the bus told authorities that he fell asleep at the wheel, sources said. The Jet spokesman refused to comment on this.