Trainee pilot dodges death

By Moayyed Jafri
Friday, July 06, 2012

A trainee pilot of a private flight training club dodged death after the aircraft drifted out of control shortly after attempting a touch-and-go maneuver.

At around 7:00 pm on Thursday, Fakhrunnisa was on her first solo flight on the Flightstar II-SL Aircraft which is a two-seat, high wing, single engine kit aircraft, made in the USA. According to the Civil Aviation spokesman, she had completed the mandatory flying hours (15) with the flying trainer and was qualified to fly the craft all by herself.

Internationally, it is a general practice that, on the first solo flight, when the student is given permission to fly alone, the instructor directs the student to fly three circuits of the traffic pattern each – accompanied by a full stop landing. Fakhrunnisa had completed two patterns and successfully managed two touch-and-go attempts which means she landed and took off again in a single maneuver.

However, when she approached the runway for her third and final touch-and-go – right after touching down, when she tried lifting the aircraft one final time – the aircraft banked to the left side and drifted out of control. Fakhrunnisa tried to control the proceedings but in vain. Luckily the aircraft had not gained substantial altitude when she faced this peril. Resultantly, she did not suffer any major injuries, apart from wounds on her face and other bruises, as the aircraft jolted at hitting the ground.

Following the uncontrolled leftward drifting the aircraft rapidly lost altitude and swayed away from the Walton Airport runway towards the Falcon Housing Society and crashed to the ground. Luckily for Fakhrunnisa, she landed on a patch of ground where there was no construction. There is a mosque and, right next to it, there are Recreation Park and jogging track for the habitants of the Falcon Society, not far from the spot where the aircraft landed.

The CAA authorities were intent on not letting anyone come close to the aircraft for any inspection whatsoever and forced the media away to a “safe-distance” from the spot.

This is the second incident in a short span of time when the trainee pilots at Walton academies have crashed, raising questions regarding the quality of training being imparted to the incumbents in addition to the state of the aircrafts.

Incharge Walton Airport and General Manger CAA Ghulam Mustafa Meerani said that probe had been initiated into the incident and the reason behind the incident could only be assured after the findings of the inquiry committee were revealed.

He said that the aircraft was completely airworthy.

Source: The News

Walton flyers: Trainee pilot unhurt in crash

By Rana Tanveer

Published: July 6, 2012

LAHORE: A young pilot escaped unharmed after she crashed a training aircraft in the Falcon Complex housing society on Thursday, less than five months since an instructor and a learner were killed in a similar crash in Model Town.

An eyewitness said that the one-seat ultralight aircraft hit the fence on the boundary wall of Falcon Complex in Gulberg in the afternoon before crashing near a jogging track, which was not being used at the time.

The pilot, 28-year-old Fakhrunnisa, was unhurt apart from some minor cuts on her face. ASP Chaudhry Muhammad Anwar said that reports that she had jumped from the plane shortly before it crashed were false. He said it was “miraculous” that she had not been badly hurt. He said that the plane may have crashed due to heavy winds.

A witness said that the pilot was able to come out of the plane on her own. She then called some relatives who picked her up from the scene.

The wreckage of the plane, which belonged to the Ultralight and Sports Flying Club, littered the scene of the crash. Officials of the Civil Aviation Authority and Lahore Flying Club also visited the site.

On February 23, instructor Anita Sikandar Qureshi and trainee pilot Waqar Asif Sheikh were killed when their AP-BCS Cessna 150 crashed at a property in Model Town. That plane had also taken off from the Walton airstrip.

Following that crash, a petition was filed in the Lahore High Court seeking a ban on trainee aircraft flights over residential areas. The court had disposed of the petition while directing the officers concerned to adopt precautionary measures.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2012.

Source: tribune.com.pk