Bengaluru businessman dies as aircraft crashes in paddy field
A 54-year-old seasoned aviator and well-known brand consultant from Bengaluru died after a light, sports aircraft — that he was flying with a co-pilot — crashed into a paddy field near Virajpet in the hilly Kodagu district in southern Karnataka.
The accident took place Saturday afternoon and involved a two seater Zenith Air STOL CH 701. While aviation enthusiast Ramesh Rao died on Sunday night, co-pilot Subramani is in a critical condition.
Rao, the managing director of Scion Advertising, was a co-owner of the aircraft. Rao had been flying since 2000 and had clocked over 500 flight hours. He was the founder of the Aircraft Owner and Pilots Association.
Kodagu district SP said Vartika Katiyar, the crash was reported around 2.40 pm on Saturday by locals from the Begur village.
Rao and his co-pilot were extricated from the debris of the plane and with multiple fractures they were rushed to a hospital in Mysore, about 100 km away from the crash site, the SP said. Rao suffered a cardiac arrest in the hospital late on Sunday, police said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will investigate the crash, the SP said. The crash site has been cordoned off.
Source:: Indian Express