By IANS
Bangalore : Four people on board a private small aircraft were killed when it crashed on the outskirts of Bangalore soon after taking off from the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) airport on way to Kottayam, Kerala, Saturday afternoon. The dead included the pilot of the Pilactus 68 aircraft.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar said the four-seater aircraft belonged to Alukka jewellers. The Kerala-based jewellers run a chain of jewellery shops in Bangalore and other places in southern states.
Kumar said the four victims have been identified as K. Shamnugham of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Mohammed Basheer of Chennai, Sunil Joseph of Kottayam and Santosh Singh of Bihar.
He said the aircraft took off from the HAL airport at 3.14 p.m. and crashed into a tank at Gowdanapalya, about 15 km from the city.
Kumar said he could not say whether the other three victims were employees of Alukka’s.
Airport sources said the pilot of the mini-aircraft had told the air traffic control room that he was returning as the plane had developed a problem. There was no contact afterwards.