Agra: A training aircraft made an emergency landing in an agricultural field at Changari village, under the jurisdiction of Harduaganj police station in Aligarh district, due to a technical malfunction mid-air on Sunday morning. Both the pilot and the trainee pilot were reported to be safe.
The Diamond DA-40, a single-engine, four-seater aircraft belonging to the Pioneer Flying Club, took off from Aligarh Airport around 9 am for a routine training sortie. Captain Asad Chattha, a resident of Jalandhar, Punjab, was piloting the aircraft while trainee pilot Kunal Kasana, of Greater Noida, was undergoing flight training.
Villagers rushed toward the fields after they spotted the low-flying aircraft. However, the pilot managed to land safely without causing any damage to the plane.
Police, airport authorities and administrative officials quickly reached the spot. Both the pilot and the trainee pilot were taken for a medical examination as a precautionary measure.
Officials stated that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been informed about the incident, and an inquiry has been initiated to ascertain the exact cause of the technical malfunction.
“The plane landed safely in the field after the captain noticed a technical glitch. Both the pilot and trainee pilot are safe, and the aircraft also did not suffer any damage,” said Pratyush Tripathi, a senior official of Pioneer Flying Club.
The incident has once again raised concerns regarding the safety standards and maintenance protocols of training aircraft operating from Aligarh Airport. Notably, in May last year, a four-seater training aircraft crashed during a pilot training session at the Dhanipur airstrip after colliding with a boundary wall while attempting to land. The aircraft, flown by trainee pilot Pranav Jain, was badly damaged, though the pilot survived.
A journalist with two decades of experience, having worked with m...
Read MoreA journalist with two decades of experience, having worked with major news organisations such as NDTV, Times Now, and others. As a Principal Correspondent covering in West Uttar Pradesh, he reports on crime, courts, politics, human-interest stories, and minority issues. His coverage includes key institutions such as Darul Uloom Deoband and Aligarh Muslim University, as well as districts including Agra, Aligarh, and Muzaffarnagar.
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