NEW DELHI: A woman trainee pilot escaped unhurt after the aircraft she was flying made a hard landing at Solapur airport in Maharashtra around 2 pm on Thursday.
The impact damaged and loosened the aircraft's nosewheel, leaving the plane standing in a semi-vertical position at the airport.
The TECNAM-P Mentor aircraft, registered as VT-RFP, was flying from Baramati to Solapur. It is operated by Redbird Flight Training Academy for training purposes.
A source at Redbird told the TNIE, “The trainee pilot, who has 160 hours of flying experience, was carrying out a cross-country training between Kalaburagi (in Karnataka) and Baramati. She landed safely at Baramati Airport and took off from there. She made a stopover at Solapur around 2 pm enroute to Kalaburagi. She ended up making a hard landing there. The nose wheel of the aircraft got damaged and got away from the aircraft.”
The two main wheels located behind did not have any problem. “The trainee did not sustain any injuries and got out safely after the landing,” the source said.
Staff at the Air Traffic Control at Solapur, who had given her the clearance to land, could view the position of the plane after she landed, and alerted other personnel who rushed to her assistance, he added.
The aviation regulator, the Directorate general of Civil Aviation, was informed about the incident.
At least eight trainee pilots from the academy had made a safe landing at the airport since morning, the source added.
Response from the DGCA on the incident is awaited.
