Instructor, trainee pilot killed as aircraft crashes in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: A chief pilot trainer and a trainee pilot were killed in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district when a trainer aircraft of Government Aviation Training Institute (GATI) crashed on Monday morning.

Cessna FA-152 VT-ENF trainer aircraft fell off from a height of nearly 100 feet immediately after it took off from Birasala airstrip under Kankadahada police limits in Dhenkanal district and crashed.

Chief trainer pilot Sanjib Kumar Jha and trainee pilot Anish Fatima were rushed to Kamakshanagar sub-divisional hospital. However, doctors declared them brought dead.

Sanjib was from Bihar while Anish was from Tamil Nadu.

Anupama James, Dhenkanal Superintendent of Police (SP) said it is suspected that the aircraft nose-dived and crashed on to the runway while trying to land.