Aircraft crash: Ryot seeks Rs 5 lakh relief for cane crop loss

Vijayapura: The farmer, on whose land an aircraft crashed on Feb 8, has demanded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the damage caused to his sugarcane crop following the crash.Ningappa, a farmer from Mangaluru village in Babaleshwar taluk, said the aircraft was not removed from the field soon after the crash. "People who came to see it trampled and damaged the sugarcane in my field," he said, adding: "There was an oil spill. A total of 5 acres of land was destroyed due to the plane crash. Now, the entire field needs to be cleaned, and sugarcane seeds need to be replanted — it costs me about Rs 5 lakh."
An RFTA training Cessna 172 (registration VT-EUC) flying from Kalaburagi to Belagavi suddenly crashed into the field on Feb 8 afternoon. The plane carried instructor pilot Kunal and trainee pilot Gautam. Both sustained injuries in the incident.Upon hearing the noise, farmers and villagers rushed to the scene and rescued the duo from the plane. Because of the impact, the front portion of the aircraft broke into two pieces. Due to a delay in the arrival of the ambulance, locals rushed the injured to a private hospital in Vijayapura by car.