The 2nd International Exhibition and Conference on Civil Aviation-India Aviation 2010, inaugurated on Wednesday by civil aviation minister Praful Patel, suffered a set back when an aircraft of the Navy?s Sagar Pawan aerobatics fleet crashed into a two-storey building killing Commander Suresh K Maurya and Co-pilot Lt Commander Rahul Nair and injuring at least four persons in the building.
Four aircraft of the Sagar Pawan fleet were performing aerobatics at the international air show at the Begumpet airport. They were on the last manoeuvre, when a Kiran Mk II aircraft failed to recover from the dive and crashed into a residential building. According to officials, co-pilot Nair tried to eject at the last moment but did not succeed. The aircraft did not explode as it crashed into an overhead water tank and fell on the penthouse of a building in Bowenpally area, which is located near the Begumpet airport. Four persons, who were present at the time of the crash in the penthouse of the building, suffered injuries.
Fire personnel rushed to the spot to prevent any fire mishap at the site because of the aviation fuel, which was leaking from the aircraft.
India Aviation 2010 is being jointly organised by the ministry of civil aviation and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) in the city from March 3-7. As many as 190 companies, including 115 from abroad including Boeing, Airbus, Cessna, Bombardier, Beechcraft and Bell are participating in the five-day event. The first edition of the international event happened in 2008.