Najafgarh crash-landing: Pilots managed to avoid casualties, say eyewitnesses

The pilots of six-seater Beech King aircraft not only succeeded in saving the lives of those on-board but also managed to avoid any casualty on ground as the plane stopped in a field just a few hundred meters short of a cluster of houses in Kair village.

The pilots of six-seater Beech King aircraft not only succeeded in saving the lives of those on-board but also managed to avoid any casualty on ground as the plane stopped in a field just a few hundred meters short of a cluster of houses in Kair village.

An air ambulance with seven people on board made an emergency landing in a field in the Najafgarh area of New Delhi. (Vipin Kumar/HT)

“We heard a loud bang and saw the plane hurtling down towards us in the fields after which I just ran away fearing that it would hit us,” Rajpal, a construction worker, said.

A local, Deepak, said, “The pilots showed presence of mind, otherwise the damage would have been greater.”

The news of the crash landing spread like wildfire in Kair as people trouped in hundreds from neighbouring villages.

Read: Air ambulance carrying 7 people makes emergency landing in Delhi

The air ambulance coming from Patna with seven persons on board crash landed around 2.40 pm after both its engines apparently shut down but no one sustained any major injury.

Watch | Air ambulance crash lands in Delhi

Another local, Ravinder, who claimed to be an eyewitness, said, “It touched down and then bumped off while moving in the fields when its landing gear came off and it kept on dragging making a loud noise.”

The locals who rushed to the plane after it came to halt also helped those on-board and attended to them by offering water and making PCR call for help.

Soon policemen from various police stations, including Najafgarh and Dwarka, reached the spot and attended to those onboard and cordoned the aircraft.

An Alchemist Ariways twin-engine plane made an emergency landing at Najafgarh in New Delhi. (HT Photo)

A 61-year-old patient Virender Rai who was being flown to Delhi was rushed to the Medanta hospital in Gurgaon by the police. The other passengers were taken to a nearby government hospital for medical examination.

Fire tenders from Delhi Fire Service and ambulances were also rushed to the spot.

A large number of men women and children thronged the field forcing the policemen to form a ring around the aircraft besides putting a tape around it.

Attracted by the throng of curious onlookers who stayed there for hours, hawkers selling ice cream, drinking water and eatables did brisk business on the spot.