Pedestrian among five killed as chartered plane crashes in Mumbai

Crashed aircraft was on its first flight in four years

A King Air C90 aircraft crashed in Ghaktkopar area of Mumbai killing four of its occupants and a pedestrian on Thursday afternoon.

The aircraft owned by UY Aviation Private Limited, an air charter company,  was on its first flight in four years after being grounded in a serious incident in Uttar Pradesh.  The plane was on a test flight which was being carried out for a renewal of its airworthiness certificate when it crashed in the Mumbai suburb.

Those killed include the plane's pilots and engineers, besides a pedestrian, Mumbai police said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is conducting a preliminary probe and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will make a detailed inquiry into the crash. The plane took off around 12.20 pm from Juhu airport and climbed around 15,000 feet as it headed north of the city. It was supposed to land at 1.15 p.m. According to sources the plane was in touch with Mumbai air traffic control till two miles from airport before losing contact. 

“The aircraft was under active maintenance for four months. All its equipment including its avionics, weather radar, propeller and landing gear were newly installed.  The maintenance was being done under approval from DGCA,” said Rajeev Gupta, managing director of Indamer Aviation which carried out maintenance and overhaul. Ground checks were carried out and test ride was to be undertaken on Tuesday but was postponed because of weather condition.

The aircraft was purchased by the charter firm from Uttar Pradesh government and was brought to Juhu airport  on a truck in a grounded condition.

The aircraft was involved in belly landing in 2014 that is it had landed without its landing gear being down. It was grounded ever since.