E-Paper
HT This Day: July 6, 1955 -- Five air officers die in crash
FIVE Indian Air Force officers were killed when an I.A.F. four-engined Liberator crashed near Poona aerodrome at 9-16 a.m. today while landing after a routine flight.
FIVE Indian Air Force officers were killed when an I.A.F. four-engined Liberator crashed near Poona aerodrome at 9-16 a.m. today while landing after a routine flight.
The aircraft carried, besides the five I.A.F. officers, three men of the Indian Army.
While four I.A.F. officers were killed instantaneously, the fifth, a flight-sergeant, died on his way to hospital. All the three Army men were injured.
The Army men, it was learnt, were on a flight to gain air experience. It is a usual procedure for Army men to gain air experience and the Liberator was on one of its flying exercises.
A court of inquiry has been appointed to ascertain the cause of the crash.
The condition of the three Army men is reported to be serious.
The presence of mind on the part of the pilot of the ill-fated aircraft, however, averted what might have been a major calamity resulting from the crash.
The plane was seen suddenly diving downwards with a loud noise and would have crashed on the family quarters of the station. But the pilot succeeded in turning the plane’s direction from the family quarters. It then would have next crashed on a workshop hangar in which many persons were working. Here, too, the pilot succeeded in saving the workshop. The situation could not be saved further and the plane crashed. Fortunately, it did not catch fire despite the force with which it came down.
THIRD MISHAP
The Poona crash is the third mishap for the I.A.F. in the last three weeks. On June 16 an I.A.F. Dakota crashed near Kargil, killing two I.A.F. officers and injuring four other I.A.F. personnel. This was followed by another accident-this time at Agra---on June 25, in which two Dakotas collided in mid-air in one of the worst accidents in the history of the I.A.F. Nineteen service personnel, including an experienced parachute instructor, were killed in the Agra disaster.
The ill-fated aircraft was in contact with the ground control of the aerodrome till before it crashed on the ground. It also gave distress signals before trying to crash-land.
Due to the great impact of the crash, two of the engines of the plane were thrown away over long distances as also parts of the bodies of members of the crew.
The whole structure of the plane has been smashed to smithereens and small pieces of metal have been scattered all over the aerodrome and around over long distances. Only the two wings of the plane retained their shape.
Among the dead, the skull of one was cut off from the central part of the forehead and his portion was found lying far away from the body.
