ROURKELA: A day after a nine-seater commercial aircraft crash-landed near Rourkela, separate teams from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) inspected the mishap site on Sunday.
The teams of DGCA and AAIB, under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, conducted aerial survey of the crash site in a helicopter provided by the state government. The members later visited the site to ascertain the exact reasons and circumstances leading to the crash.
Commerce and Transport secretary Usha Padhee also visited the crash site and reviewed the situation on the ground. She took stock of the rescue operations, medical response and safety measures initiated immediately after the incident. Padhee said the state government is closely monitoring the situation.
“The chief minister is personally monitoring the developments and has issued clear directions to ensure prompt medical assistance, logistical support and coordinated administrative action for all the affected persons.” All necessary arrangements have been made on priority. A two-member medical team has been deputed to continuously monitor the condition of the injured.
Emergency medical facilities have been activated at the district level, she added. On Saturday afternoon, the nine-seater Cessna Grand C208B aircraft VT-KSS of IndiaOne Air, a scheduled commuter operator, crash-landed on an open field at Kansar near Jalda A block, about eight km from Rourkela.
Four passengers and two pilots suffered different degrees of injuries and were admitted to the JP Hospital, Rourkela. Meanwhile, two injured passengers Savita Agrawal (35) and Sunil Agrawal (40) were airlifted to Mumbai for advanced medical treatment at their own request. Their condition is stable and they are out of danger, said officials.
According to JP Hospital, Sunil with fractures in hip and spine was under observation in the ICU and managed conservatively without surgery. He was later shifted to Fortis Hospital, Mumbai at his own request. Sabita too suffered fractures to the hip and spine and was under observation in ICU with plan for surgery.
She was also shifted to Fortis Hospital at own request. Another passenger Anita Sahu (50), who suffered lacerated wound with contusion in brain, is stable and under observation in ICU after surgery. Fourth passenger Sushant Kumar Biswal (46) suffered head injury with contusion and is on ventilator support. His condition is critical with known cases of CKD, CAD and DM.
Pilot Naveen Kadanga (46) and co-pilot Tarun Srivastava (46) suffered facial bone fractures. They are stable and under observation after surgeries. The flight took off from Bhubaneswar and was scheduled to land at Rourkela airport at 1.18 pm. It was at a height of around 2,000 feet, but crashed at 1.15 pm. The nine-seater aircraft was launched on the Rourkela-Bhubaneswar route on December 5 under the viability gap funding (VGF) support of the Odisha government.