Twin aircraft crashes: Flight academy officials booked for not cooperating

An offence was registered against officials of Redbird Flight Training Academy, located in Baramati near Pune, for alleged non-cooperation in the investigation into two of its aircraft crashing last month, police said on Monday.

Aircraft from the academy had crashed on October 19 and 22 in Baramati tehsil.

In the October 19 incident, a pilot sustained injuries after a training aircraft crashed near Katfal village, while in the October 22 incident, two persons were injured when another training aircraft crashed near Gojubavi village.

The complaint against staffers of the Redbird Flight Training Academy has been registered by an official from the New Delhi-based Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) who was a part of a team to investigate the twin crashes, a police official said.

Baramati taluka police station inspector Prabhakar More said officials of the academy allegedly did not provide the required information to the AAIB team and did not cooperate, thus creating obstruction in official work.

"An offence has been registered against Redbird officials under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) of the Indian Penal Code," More said.