Captain Sumit Kapoor, one of the pilots aboard the doomed jet that crashed in Maharashtra’s Baramati on Wednesday, was not supposed to fly the plane on the day of the accident, his friends reportedly said.
Kapoor was the pilot-in-command on the Learjet 45 plane that crashed, killing him, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, his security officer Vidip Jadhav, first officer Captain Shambhavi Pathak and flight attendant Pinky Mali.
Kapoor’s friends were quoted as saying by NDTV that he was not scheduled to fly the plane and was filling in for a pilot who got stuck in traffic.
Amid speculation over what may have led to the deadly crash, Kapoor’s friends backed him and his flying skills. One of them even said that Kapoor’s son and son-in-law were both pilots.
Kapoor had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, according to news agency PTI. The 62-year-old hailed from Delhi’s Rajouri Garden and was one of the two pilots aboard the plane that crashed in Baramati.
Sumit is survived by his wife Cheena, their son Shiv and daughter Sanya. “Sumit was extremely passionate about flying,” the family’s neighbour earlier told HT on anonymity. “He flew several politicians and celebrities in the last two years… He was very experienced and did not have any airs about flying famous people.”
Wednesday morning came as a big shock to the country as one Learjet 45 aircraft –– operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures Pvt. Ltd and registered as VT-SSK, crashed in Maharashtra’s Baramati, killing NCP leader Ajit Pawar and four others, including Kapoor.
The plane made two landing attempts, according to a release by the civil aviation ministry. While it struggled to spot the runway at first, the plane was granted clearance for landing by the ATC on ground after it confirmed that visual contact had been established.
According to the release, the ATC saw the plane go up in flames at around 8:43 am on Wednesday.
The black box has been secured and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has launched a formal investigation into the plane crash, the civil aviation ministry said on Thursday.
