The devastating chartered plane crash that happened yesterday in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area has left many a questions in the minds of the people. The biggest amongst them is the question ‘What if’? What if the plane had crash landed into a more populated location, into a residential building or a crowded market place?
#Mumbai: Visuals of wreckage of chartered plane that crashed in Ghatkopar. 5 people lost their lives in the crash that occurred few hours ago. pic.twitter.com/kHyq6hSGVp
— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2018
Pictures and videos of the aircraft, a 12-seater Beechcraft King Air C90 turboprop, crashing into a construction site in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, sent chills down people’s spine.
#WATCH: Moment when a chartered plane crashed in Mumbai's Ghatkopar yesterday. 5 people, including 4 on-board, lost their lives in the crash. pic.twitter.com/wjqt4ZZOHa
— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2018
Co-pilots Maria Zuberi and Captain Pradeep Rajput, and the rest of the crew are being deemed as heroes, who managed to avert a humongous disaster. They saved many lives at the cost of their own.
The aircraft was on a test run as it took off from the Juhu airstrip, with no passengers on board. There were two co-pilots, Captain Pradeep Rajput and Captain Maria Zuberi, on board along with Surabhi Gupta (engineer) and Manish Pandey (technician). All of them died in the crash, which also took the life of a pedestrian who was at the site when the crash happened.
Maria Zuberi was the first pilot in the family. According to a report by ABP News, the now deceased engineer on board, Surabhi Gupta had only 10 days ago celebrated her first wedding anniversary and was also rumoured to be 2 months pregnant.
Contrary to earlier reports that claimed the aircraft was a UP Government property, the plane, in fact, belonged to an private company called UY Aviation. It is owned by a gutkha baron.
UP’s Civil Aviation Minister Nand Gopal Gupta told the media how the plane had been sold to a Pune-based company, which then sold it to UY Aviation in 2014. The plane was 20 years old.
UP government sold the aircraft to a private aviation company in 2014 and they were responsible for its maintenance. The incident has nothing to do with UP government: UP Civil Aviation Minister Nand Gopal Gupta on chartered plane crash in #Mumbai's Ghatkopar pic.twitter.com/IlxNPgz5a4
— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2018
But the blame game doesn’t stop there. According to TOI, an accountable official of the aviation company said that the aircraft was not ‘airworthy’.
“Though we have ownership of the aircraft, it was In the hangar of a maintenance company, Indamer, for over a year and a half, undergoing major repairs. The aircraft was not yet handed over to us, it did not have a certificate of airworthiness.’’
The last time the aircraft had flown was some six years ago with the UP Government.
The families of the two pilots that are now being hailed as heroes haveve blamed the aviation company for conducting a test run despite the bad weather conditions.
Co-pilot Maria Zuberi’s husband Prabhat Kathuria told the media that he had spoken to both, his wife and co-pilot Pradeep Rajput the night before. Both of them were certain that the test flight was not likely to happen the next day.
The incident could have been averted. Maria had told me that the flight won't be flown due to bad weather. The aviation company is responsible for this unfortunate incident: P Kuthariya, Husband of pilot killed in chartered plane crash in Mumbai earlier today pic.twitter.com/1i1TwDA7Yx
— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2018
He has levelled serious allegations against the aviation company, claiming that they forced the test flight despite bad weather conditions and the aircraft not being fit for a flight.
The Ghatkopar police are in the process of registering a case of accidental death and accountable government officials have promised a thorough inquiry into the crash.
However, right now, all we can do is pray for the souls of the heroes aboard that ill-fated plane, whose bravery saved many, many lives.