After crash, NCC suspends flying by microlite aircraft

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, February 25

The National Cadet Corps (NCC) has suspended the flying of its microlite aircraft after a senior Indian Air Force (IAF) officer died and an NCC cadet was seriously injured when one such aircraft crashed soon after take off from Patiala airfield on Monday.

The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry to investigate the cause of the accident, but sources say preliminary information emanating from the crash site points towards engine trouble.

The aircraft had crashed about 250 ft from the runway’s edge when the pilot, GP Capt GS Cheema, a fighter veteran, was attempting to touch down just minutes after he took off. “The engine had either stalled or flamed out. This could have been either due to a technical snag or a problem in the fuel supply,” an officer said.

The aircraft was a Pipistrel Virus SW 80 manufactured in Slovenia. The Ministry of Defence had procured 110 such aircraft starting from 2016. It is a small two-seater propeller aircraft that weighs less than 300 kg and its body is made out of fiber and non-metallic material.

These are used by the IAF for monitoring bird activity, surveying airfield periphery for flight safety hazards and adventure flying. The NCC also uses the aircraft for motivational flights and giving cadets a live exposure to aircraft controls.

A majority of the Virus microlites are with the NCC, which also has a few older generation Zen microlites. The training syllabus of the NCC, which has 55 air squadrons with an average strength of 200 cadets, prescribes four sorties per cadet in the senior division.

This is the third accident in India involving the Virus microlte. In February 2018, an IAF Virus that had taken off from Jorhat airbase had crashed killing both pilots on board. The aircraft was completely burnt.

In October the same year, a Virus that had got airborne from the Hindon airbase near New Delhi crash landed in the fields near Bhagput in Uttar Pradesh. While the pilots escaped, the nose of the aircraft was damaged. Flying by Virus has been suspended on earlier occasions as well.