Bangalore, September 8
Four persons were killed when the Pilactus 68 aircraft in which they were bound for Kochi plunged into a dry lake bed at Gowdanapalya on the outskirts of the city today. The four-seater aircraft developed a snag after taking off from the airport here, according to police sources. Within minutes of take-off, it crashed into the lake bed.
The pilot communicated to the air traffic tower shortly after take-off that he was
returning to the base because of certain technical problems. Communications with the tower were severed soon after this. The deceased have been identified as Sunil Joseph, Santhosh Kumar, K. Shanmugam and Mohammed Basheer.
According to the police sources, three of them were killed immediately while the fourth died in hospital. The chopper reportedly belonged to Deccan Aviation.
