Trainee pilot injured as aircraft veers off runway in Odisha’s Dhenkanal

The incident comes two years after chief flying instructor Captain Sanjeev Kumar Jha and trainee pilot Anis Fatima M were killed when their Cessna training aircraft nosedived from a height of 100 feet near the Birasal airstrip on June 8, 2020.

Updated on: Jun 6, 2022, 20:57:52 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Bhubaneswar: A 24-year-old trainee pilot flying a Cessna-152 aircraft was injured after the plane veered off the runway during take-off and dropped from a height of 15 feet moments later on an airstrip in Dhenkanal district on Monday afternoon.

Kiran Malik, from Sion in Mumbai was injured when the Cessna aircraft she was flying solo veered off the runway during take-off and then fell from a height of 15 feet on the Birasal airstrip in Dhenkanal district on Monday. (HT PHOTO.)

The trainee pilot, Kiran Malik, from Sion in Mumbai was injured when the Cessna aircraft she was flying solo veered off the runway during take-off and then fell from a height of 15 feet on the Birasal airstrip under Kankadahad police station area of Dhenkanal district on Monday, police said. The incident happened between 2.30 pm and 3 pm.

Kankadahad police station inspector-in-charge Nirmala Gochhayat said Malik was admitted to Kamakhyanagar hospital and is believed to be out of danger. “The propeller and nose-wheel of the aircraft has been damaged after the aircraft fell in a drain near the runway,” the police officer said.

The incident comes two years after chief flying instructor Captain Sanjeev Kumar Jha and trainee pilot Anis Fatima M were killed when their Cessna training aircraft nosedived from a height of 100 feet near the Birasal airstrip on June 8, 2020.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regulations, a trainee requires 350 hours of ground training, 200 hours of flying training and passing of all the examinations and checks to obtain a commercial pilot’s licence. GATI, which started training at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar, expanded its service to Birasal in 2019 as trainees were not getting a lot of flying opportunity in Bhubaneswar due to the busy air traffic.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.