Beechcraft in India
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2015-16: Crash landings
The Times of India, May 25, 2016
For Beechcraft, India is hardly a success story
Known to be sturdy, Beechcraft aircraft have had a rough ride in India. Crash-landing in May 2016 involving a Beech King Air C- 90A comes after another plane from its stables meeting a terrible fate.
On December 22, 2015, a Ranchi-bound BSF aircraft — Beech Superking B - 200 (VT-BSA) — had crashed within minutes of taking off from IGI Airport, killing all 10 people on board. That aircraft had crashed on the airport's sewage treatment plant, narrowly missing the residential areas and the aviation fuel reservoir located nearby. Earlier in 1992, another BSF aircraft of the same make had crashed at IGI airport.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) probe report of that crash stated that the pilot had asked the co-pilot to get off the plane on the runway. He had then taken off without air traffic control clearance and crashed. The DGCA probe found a probable cause of this accident. "The exact cause of the accident could not be confirmed. However, on the basis of evidence on record, the probability of deliberate attempt to crash the aircraft by the late captain could not be ruled out. The probability of incapacitation of the captain during the last circuit has also not been ruled out," the DGCA report said.
