BANGALORE: A light transport Saras aircraft crashed at 3.50 pm on Friday near Bidadi, 40 kms from Bangalore, killing its three pilots. (
Aircraft crash near Bangalore
Charred bodies of Wing Commander Praveen, Wing Commander Shah and Squadron Leader Ilayaraja were retrieved from the wreckage of the aircraft which was completely destroyed in the accident, police said.
The aircraft was second prototype of Saras and was on its test flight schedule, a top official of state-run National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) said.
“The aircraft lost control and crash-landed near Bidadi,” he said adding, “We lost three crew members”. The crew members were experienced persons drawn from Air Force.
On the cause of the crash, he said, “It is too early to say…. An inquiry would be conducted”. The aircraft, which is an 8 to 14-seater, was on its 49th test flight.
On whether the crash was a setback to the Saras project, he said, “It should not have happened…Yes there will be a setback… but we need to move forward and see what has to be done”.
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A pic of this same aircraft performing at AeroIndia 09 is in the latest AW i think.
By: steve rowell - 6th March 2009 at 23:57
That’s sad to hear…God bless the crew and their families!!!
By: coldfire2005 - 6th March 2009 at 17:51
RIP for the Test Pilot it is great loss for the country ,condolences to the family members of their loss ,it seems like it was a “engine off” test and engine might was not able to start again ,still to early to say any thing
By: KabirT - 6th March 2009 at 16:39
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March 6, 2009 at 4:38 pm