Navy's aerobatic plane crashes, two pilots dead, seven injured

Hyderabad, Mar 3 (PTI) An aerobatic plane of the Indian
Navy, flying in a formation during an airshow, Wednesday
crashed into a three-storeyed residential building here,
killing two pilots and injuring seven persons on the ground.
The Kiran MK-II plane, which was part of the 'Sagar
Pawan' aerobatic team participating in a display at the India
Aviation show, crashed around noon, causing a loud bang in the
New Bowenpally area, about four kms from the Old Begumpet
Airport here in the capital of the southern Indian state of
Andhra Pradesh.
Navy chief Nirmal Verma, who was in the central Indian
city of Bhopal, said the pilots had not ejected. "So the
possibility is either timewise there was a problem or they
(the pilots) were making all efforts to ensure that damage is
minimised to any civil area. They are no more," he said.
"The inputs that I have got is that about seven people
are injured," he said, adding, "I have to wait for more
information. It is premature for me to say what could have
caused the crash at this stage."
The pilots were Commander S K Maurya and Lt. Commander
Rahul Nair, a navy spokesman said in New Delhi. Nair belongs
to Delhi.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner A K Khan said the plane
crashed into the residential building which had a cellphone
tower on top. A car parked outside the building was smashed as
one of the plane's wings fell on it.
The injured have been sent to a hospital, Khan said.

Another Surya Kiran aircraft had crashed on March 18,
2006 near its home base in Bidar in southern Indian state of
Karnataka during a training sortie, killing pilots Wing
Commander Dheeraj Bhatia and Squadron Leader Shailender Singh.
In 2010, the IAF has lost two fighter aircraft --a MiG-
27 and a MiG-21. Last year, the IAF had recorded 11 air
mishaps, of which five involved MiG-21 aircraft. PTI AJD
MRD