The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India’s top authority on domestic air transport, has blamed bad weather for yesterday’s crash of Apollo hospital aircraft in Delhi.
In its preliminary report on the matter, it held that the 9-seater aircraft was simply too small and flimsy to survive the bad weather and crashed.
DGCA authorities had earlier been puzzled by the sudden loss of altitude by the aircraft.
The preliminary report, according to source, does not attribute the accident to any human failure, but blames the gusty winds around the airport area for the mishap. It does not rule out mechanical malfunction caused by the traumatic conditions for the crash.
It is estimated to have plunged from a height of around 8,000 feet after being caught in strong gusts.
Civil aviation authorities have been keeping an eye on a ‘weather formation’ near the airport for some hours before the accident happened, but did not expect it to move in towards the airport.
Another flight from Patna was put off due to the bad weather conditions on the warning of airport authorities in Delhi, before news of the accident came out.
The accident happened on a P-12 turboprop plane which was ferrying a 20 year old student who had passed into a coma in Patna after suffering from Jaundice for several days. The plane was being used by Delhi-based Apollo hospitals as an ambulance and had seven people in it.
10 people died in the mishap, including three who were sitting on the rooftop of the house on which the debris fell.