Private training aircraft crashes in Karnataka, both occupants safe

Two people, including a flight instructor, had a narrow escape after a private training aircraft made a forced landing in an open field in north Karnataka’s Vijayapura district on Sunday afternoon, police sources said.

The two-seater Cessna 172 aircraft belonging to Redbird Flying Training Academy Ltd , based in Kalaburagi, made the forced landing near Mangaluru village in Babaleshwar taluk , close to the Vijayapura–Bagalkot border. The aircraft sustained extensive damage and broke into three pieces after landing, they said.

The occupants, Assistant Flight Instructor Captain Kunal Malhotra and trainee pilot Goutham Sankar P R sustained injuries and were rushed to a hospital. Both are reported to be safe.

Sources said the aircraft was on a training sortie from Kalaburagi to Belagavi when it encountered an in-flight emergency, though the exact circumstances that led to the forced landing are not yet known.

Officials said the aircraft did not have ejection seats , and the occupants survived due to a controlled forced landing carried out by the instructor in an open field.

A Civil Aviation Ministry spokesperson said Redbird Flying Training Academy Limited’s Cessna 172 aircraft, VT-EUC (MSN-17265717) , made a forced landing in a field near Bagalkot , about 100 km east of Belagavi airport , and that both the instructor and the cadet are safe.

The incident is expected to be examined by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) , and further details are awaited.