PUNE, India, 30 March 2008 — A government inquiry has found that a plane crashed into a river on the outskirts of Pune on March 14 not because of any technical fault but because the trainee pilots were romancing high in the sky.
According to a report by the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) that inquired into the crash-landing of the trainer aircraft of the Baramati-based Carver Aviation Academy, the two trainee pilots, a man and a woman in their 20s, were romancing in the air and lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft was severely damaged but both trainees escaped with superficial injuries. The report blamed the crash on what it called “nonstandard behavior inside the cockpit where utmost sanctity was necessary.”
Confirming the report, a source in the DGCA said: “The two trainee pilots were romancing and that led to the plane nose-diving into the Nira River in Baramati after it hit an electricity cable. Both pilots were trainees and were flying with a few liquor bottles allegedly containing strong beverages.”
