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| Date: | Saturday 27 March 2021 |
| Time: | c 1600 LT |
| Type: |  Partenavia P.68 Observer 2 |
| Owner/operator: | Pinnacle Air Pvt Ltd |
| Registration: | VT-TAA |
| MSN: | 398-07-OB2 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Gandhi Nagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh -
 India
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Survey |
| Departure airport: | Bhopal-Raja Bhoj Airport (BHO/VABP) |
| Guna Airport (GUX/VAGN) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB India |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A Partenavia P.68 Observer, licence built by Taneja, crashed shortly after takeoff near Gandhi Nagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (8 km from Bhopal-Raja Bhoj Airport) after a reported mechanical failure. The three occupants were injured.
Probable cause of the Accident:
The probable cause of the accident was Oil leak from the LH engine during the flight. Consequently, oil starvation and lack of lubrication resulted in excessive heat generation amongst the frictional components. Due to excessive heat, the bearing of no. 4 piston connecting rod failed and broke into pieces. However, the root cause of the LH engine oil leak could not be conclusively established.
Subsequent to LH engine seizure, the crew did not follow the emergency procedures for single engine operation and took a decision to come for landing with single engine (RH). The crew further aggravated the emergency situation by not communicating the actual reason with ATC, displaying gross lack of situational awareness in handling the emergency. Crew estimated that they cannot reach the airport runway due to the low altitude and force landed the aircraft before the airport.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/plane-crashes-in-bhopal-three-injured-pilots-rushed-to-hospital/738052
https://newsbust.in/mp-bhopal-plane-crash-update-three-trainee-injured-in-gandhi-nagar-area-today-3-people-injured-including-captain-and-two-trainee-pilots-aircraft-fell-in-the-field-due-to-engine-failure/
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bhopal-trainee-aircraft-crashes-pilots-injured-1784364-2021-03-27
https://www.timesofindia.com/city/bhopal/training-aircraft-crash-after-take-off-from-bhopal-airport-no-casualty-reported/articleshow/81724906.cms
Images:
Media:
Three pilots have been injured after an aircraft crashed in Gandhi Nagar Police Station limits of Bhopal. The injured have been shifted to hospital: Arun Sharma, SHO, Gandhi Nagar. #MadhyaPradesh
— ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2021
Details awaited. pic.twitter.com/rVajIyt4un
Three pilots injured after their aircraft crashes near Bishan Khedi village on the outskirts of Bhopal on Saturday. (ANI pic.twitter.com/R9ZoZZyyzu
— Thumbs Up Bharat (@thumbsupbharat) March 27, 2021
3 Pilots Injured As Trainer Aircraft Crashes Near Bhopal https://t.co/mGyPv0zYQL via @Aviators Buzz
— Aditya Anand (@anandaditya) March 27, 2021
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Mar-2021 12:21 | gerard57 | Added |
| 27-Mar-2021 12:34 | Captain Adam | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 27-Mar-2021 12:38 | gerard57 | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 27-Mar-2021 12:53 | gerard57 | Updated [Aircraft type, Source, ] |
| 27-Mar-2021 13:15 | harro | Updated [Cn, Operator, Departure airport, ] |
| 27-Mar-2021 13:17 | harro | Updated [Nature, Destination airport, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 27-Mar-2021 13:42 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Departure airport, Embed code, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 27-Mar-2021 17:11 | royrohan | Updated [Time, Source, Photo, ] |
| 27-Mar-2021 18:35 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 28-Mar-2021 09:13 | Anon. | Updated [Embed code, Narrative, ] |
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