IAF training aircraft crashes, woman pilot killed

Mon, May 12 08:25 PM

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) An Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft crashed during a routine training sortie near Hyderabad Monday, killing a woman trainee pilot, an IAF spokesperson here said.

The training aircraft HPT-32 crashed at around 3 p.m. at Medak, 50 km from Begumpet Air Force Academy in Hyderabad. 'The plane crashed near Medak in an open ground after it took off for the training mission. The pilot succumbed to fatal injuries,' IAF spokesman Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani said. 'A court of enquiry has been ordered into the accident,' Upasani added. The lady officer was receiving flying training on the HPT-32, on which IAF pilots are trained before graduating to the Surya Kiran training aircraft. 'She had flying experience of 40 hours and this was her second solo mission,' a source said. 'Air force officials rushed to the spot and doused the fire. However, the lady officer was already burnt to death,' the source said. The name of the officer has not been revealed so far. She is the second IAF woman officer to have been killed in a plane crash. In 1996, Flt. Lt. Harita Deol was killed in a plane crash in Chennai.

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