Wreckage of missing aircraft, pilot's body found

CHHINDWARA/GONDIA: Wreckage of a two seater training aircraft belonging to Rajiv Gandhi National Flying Institute in Maharashtra's Gondia, which went missing after taking off from Bisri Airfield, was found near Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, a senior police official said.

The pilot's body was also recovered from the crash site, he said.

The 19-year-old trainee pilot Suhail Ansari, who hails from Bijnore district in Uttar Pradesh, lost his way due to the fog. As a result the plane dashed against the mountains in Sitadongri and crashed, Chhindwara district police chief Purshottam Sharma said.

Sharma said people of Pandhan village near Sitadongri informed the police about the plane crash following which a search was launched, he said.

The aircraft, owned by Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Akademy in Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh), took off from Gondia at 12.30 PM yesterday on a solo sortie and was to return at 2.45 PM.

However, it lost touch with the air traffic control after take off. The ATC tried contacting the aircraft trainee pilot Ansari, but both the aircraft and the pilot remained untraceable.

Every year during peak winter season, trainee pilots from the Rae Bareli-based institute arrive at Birsi airport in Gondia for their training as foggy weather condition in North India during this period is not suitable for the aircraft training.

This year also a fleet of trainee aircraft and pilots have arrived in Birsi, where weather remains largely clear.

Earlier, a training aircraft had crash landed near a village in Balaghat district in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, but there was no human casualty.