Police stand guard as air ambulance crash-landing site becomes picnic spot

Kair village in southwest Delhi’s Najafgarh has become a picnic spot with people clicking selfies and vendors selling snacks near the area where a plane crash-landed on Tuesday afternoon.

Kair village in southwest Delhi’s Najafgarh has become a picnic spot with people clicking selfies and vendors selling snacks near the area where a plane crash-landed on Tuesday afternoon.

Both the engines of the Beechcraft King Air C-90 failed when it was just 10 minutes away from the Delhi airport. The pilot-in-command, Amit Kumar, saved the lives of seven people on board, including a critically ill patient and his relatives as well as a doctor, by strategically landing the plane in a field. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Though police have cordoned off the area, people from Haryana too are coming to catch a sight of the air ambulance that made an emergency landing. Three police control room (PCR) vans, a reserve battalion and 30 personnel from the local police station are guarding the plane.

Both the engines of the Beechcraft King Air C-90 failed when it was just 10 minutes away from the Delhi airport. The pilot-in-command, Amit Kumar, saved the lives of seven people on board, including a critically ill patient and his relatives as well as a doctor, by strategically landing the plane in a field.

According to police, they already have a shortage of staff and the delay by the company that owns the plane has put work of police station on hold.

“This is not our job as the plane belongs to a particular company. The staff, which is supposed to investigate cases of murder and theft, are here guarding the plane. If we leave the site, there will be a law and order problem,” a policeman said.

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

After repeated reminders, Alchemist Airways finally sent a team of technicians to dismantle the plane on Friday morning.

“The technician will dismantle the plane and it will take two more days to complete the process. Once the plane is dismantled, it will be taken to the Delhi airport for repair,” a person involved in the operation to move the aircraft said.

Locals said they don’t have a problem with the plane sitting in the area as people coming to see it are boosting business.

Read: Had just 15 secs to think about landing: Pilot of Najafgarh air ambulance

“On Thursday the pilot, who had saved the plane from crashing, had visited the site and people rushed to get pictures with him. Otherwise too, throughout the day people from outside visit the site. We don’t have any problem with it as locals have opened shop and getting good business out of it,” Rajesh, a local resident, said.

The civil aviation ministry has ordered an inquiry into the matter though the pilot claimed that plane was maintained properly.