For 32-year-old Mahesh Kumar, the plane crash in a sewage treatment plant near the Delhi airport on Tuesday morning was like “a movie being played in reality.” Having just arrived for his daily wage job, Mahesh, who was working as a labourer in the vicinity, trembled even as the 11-seater Beechcraft Superking plane crash-landed just a kilometre away from the nearest residential colony in Palam village.
“Initially I though that some aeroplane may be taking-off as it usually happens around here, but, before I could think of anything else I saw a small plane descending dangerously,” adding, “Before I could react, the plane crashed and burst into flames. I tried to go near the crash site, but the entire area was engulfed in smoke and fire. I could not muster the courage to move forward. I was awe-struck.” A perplexed Mahesh added: “After some time, the police and other airport security staff arrived at the spot and it was only after a while that I went near the crashed machine. There I saw bodies lying around.”
Another eyewitness, Suraj, sharing same amazement, said: “I saw a plane spiralling down and crashing near the wall in the sewage treatment plant where some work was going on. It burst into flames and once the smoke settled, pieces of aircraft were seen spread around.”
“Within a few minutes of the incident about a dozen fire tenders, one after another, rushed to the spot,” said Mahesh.
The Delhi police, meanwhile, has filed a case of negligence under Sections 304-A, 336 and 337 of the IPC at the IGI Airport police station against unknown persons and is investigating the matter.
Bodies of all the 10 paramilitary personnel killed in an aircraft crash near Dwarka on Tuesday morning have been sent for postmortem to the Safdarjung Hospital. Three bodies were recovered just outside a water tank in completely charred condition and the rest were pulled out of the water tank.
“Small pieces of the wreckage of the fuselage are currently being salvaged by a joint team of local police, disaster management and other officials,” a senior Delhi police official, who is part of the probe team, said.
A senior Delhi police officer said that after receiving the call about the incident, a team from the local police station reached the spot and cordoned off the area. “We also called for more aid as we knew this is going to trigger panic and chaos,” said the senior police officer, adding, “Soon residents of nearby Palam village started gathering around the crash site making it difficult for the officials to do their job.”
The cops added that soon senior officials from BSF, airport security staff, aviation ministry and other departments reached the spot to take stock of the situation. “It took us over three hours to clear the area,” said the police officials.
“Expert aviation teams remained at the spot to inspect the crashed plane.”
“Immediately after the crash took place, a large contingent from the police and personnel from civil defence was pressed into service.” A team of CISF personnel and disaster management as well as officials from Air Accident Investigation Bureau and Directorate General of Civil Aviation also rushed to accident site.
The police sources said that they are co-ordinating with the airport authorities, DGCA and ministry of civil aviation to get all reports required to further our investigations. “We are in touch with various departments. For now we have filed a case of negligence against unknown persons and will make amends as our probe moves forward,” said a senior police officer, adding, “All eyewitnesses are being questioned and their statements are being recorded.”
The autopsy reports are awaited in a day or two. “As the number of casualties are 10, the doctors will take some time to conduct autopsies.”
