'Flight test taken despite bad weather': Pilot's husband holds UY Aviation responsible

At least five people were killed in a small chartered plane crash in the thickly populated suburb of Ghatkopar in north-east Mumbai on Thursday. The plane came down mere six minutes after take-off. Maria Kuber, the pilot used presence of mind to avert a very big disaster by trying to land near the under-construction building and not near the highly-populated localities. Unfortunately, she too lost her life in the tragic accident.

"Two pilots, two Aircraft Maintenance Engineers on board & one person on ground are dead in the chartered plane crash in Mumbai's Ghatkopar," said Directorate General of Civil Aviation to news agency ANI.

Names of the deceased:
Pradeep Rajput - Co-pilot
Surabhi - Technician
Maria Kuber - Pilot
Manish Pandey - Technician

Eyewitnesses at Sarvodaya Nagar said the plane was seen hurtling down amid rain and crashed with a deafening roar before bursting into flames at around 1.30 p.m. Local residents said they heard two to three explosions and assumed it was a gas cylinder blast. The cause of which is not known - occurred in the premises of a building under construction.

As per preliminary information, the aircraft was on a test flight and had taken off from the Juhu Airport minutes before it crashed, reported news agency IANS.

ABP News Sources said the aircraft did not belong to UP Govt. It was sold in 2014 to a private company UY Aviation. UY aviation is owned by one Kothari.

Disturbing visuals of a man caught on fire emerged after the crash. He was also said to be killed in the crash. It appears he was a worker at the construction site as a measuring tape was found from his pocket. He has been identified as Govind Pandit.

The plane reportedly belongs to Uttar Pradesh government. A DGCA team on way to Mumbai for preliminary investigation into plane crash,"said DG Civil Aviation B S Bhullar to news agency PTI. "Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau to conduct detailed probe into the crash, " he said.

Investigators have found the black box that provides invaluable data and helps in figuring out what led to the crash.

'UY Aviation responsible for crash'

Pilot Maria Kuber’s husband Prabhat Kathuria has blamed the company UY Aviation for her death as the aircraft was not prepared for a test flight considering bad weather. Kathuria said he had spoken to Captain Pradeep Rajput and Maria last night and both were certain of the test flight not taking place on Thursday.

Kathuria said UY Avitation despite noting bad weather forced the pilots and technicians to take off the flight further which the tragedy took place. He said the comapny's CEO Anil Chauhan did not even meet the grieving family members following the mishap.

Maria had 1,000-hours of flight experience. She had shifted to Mumbai 15 years ago. Kathuria said she left their Mira Road residence at 8 am in the morning. He messaged her "Where are you"at 1 pm but did not receive any response from her.