E-Paper
Locals steal ‘souvenirs’, hinder air ambulance crash probe
A neat stack of a file, containing medical records, and papers is the only thing that escaped Wednesday’s air crash. The rest are either charred remains of the seven passengers and crew or pieces of what was a 4,700-kg Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. Sidhartha Roy and Faizan Haider report. Fatal flight | How it happened | Falling from the sky
A neat stack of a file, containing medical records, and papers is the only thing that escaped Wednesday’s air crash. The rest are either charred remains of the seven passengers and crew or pieces of what was a 4,700-kg Pilatus PC-12 aircraft.
Two teams of DGCA investigators at the crash site said it was difficult to determine the cause of the crash since the wreckage had been left unprotected in a congested area for hours. Worse, some locals allegedly made off with aircraft parts.
An investigator, who did not want to be identified, said, "While the site should have been properly cordoned off, people were allowed to mill about. The engine has been sent for examination even though some parts of it are missing."
The directorate general of civil aviation is now planning to bring the wreckage to Delhi Flying Club at Safdarjung airport for detailed examination.
What makes investigation especially tough is that the small aircraft, unlike jetliners, did not have any cockpit voice recorder or black box. The investigators, however, managed to retrieve a data card that contained flight details. They will visit the Delhi air traffic control on Friday to replay tapes of conversation between the pilots and ATC.
The single-engine aircraft, carrying Rahul Raj, 20, a critically ill patient in coma from Patna to Apollo hospital in Delhi, faced adverse weather while approaching Delhi airport.
The aircraft fell from at least 7,000 feet and crashed into a house in Faridabad’s Parvatiya Colony at 10.48pm Wednesday and caught fire, killing all seven passengers and three residents of the house. See pics
Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.
