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BSF plane crash: All 10 on board dead, probe ordered

All the 10 people on board including the two pilots were killed when it crashed outside the boundary wall of the IGI Airport. It was a Beech Superking B – 200 aircraft with VT-BSA registration.

According to sources, soon after the Ranchi-bound chartered flight took off from runway 28 of the airport, it developed technical snag in its left engine as a result of which the aircraft tilted and lost control leading to the crash.

One of the pilots of the aircraft asked the Air Traffic control (ATC) for a priority landing and full emergency was declared and measures put in place. The ATC asked two other approaching aircraft to be on the stand-by as it allowed the BSF aircraft priority landing.

“The aircraft was on its way back and approaching the airport’s runway 10 from the Dwarka side when it suddenly lost radio contact with the ATC. The plane crashed at the airport’s outer periphery boundary wall on the western side while descending towards the runway at around 9.50 am,” said the sources. According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft appeared to be unstable as it crossed the boundary wall which also has an area reserved for the military. “It took a U-turn and then suddenly went down, exploding in a huge ball of fire,” said an airport employee.

“There was a lot of fire all around and nothing else could be seen,” said an airport official deployed at the airport site.

The flight was commanded by captain Bhagwati Prashad Bhatt and Rajesh Shivrain as the co-pilot. Deputy commandant D Kumar and technicians Raghvendra Kumar, C L Sharma, S N Sharma, Ravinder Kumar, Surrender Singh, DP Chauhan, KR Rawat were on board and are reported to be dead. “It is yet to be ascertained that what really went wrong which led to this incident. We have recovered the Black Box and the exact reasons of the crash will be come out soon,” said a senior airport official.

According to sources, the aircraft was only recently repainted and serviced by the BSF. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, LG Najeeb Jung and Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi visited the crash site. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma has ordered a probe. Meanwhile, Delhi Police have also registered an FIR. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal mourned the death of all 10 BSF personnel who were killed in the plane crash. “BSF plane crash is extremely unfortunate. My heartfelt sympathies to the families who lost their dear ones,” he tweeted.
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