Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi with his wife.

Read this report in Marathi

BENGALURU: Two Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team aircraft collided mid-air and crashed on Tuesday during a practice sortie for the 12th edition of Aero India, casting a shadow on the five-day biennial airshow that will kick off on Wednesday.One pilot, Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi died at the crash site. Wing Commander Vijay Shelke and Squadron Leader Tejeshwar Singh are under treatment at Command Hospital, the IAF confirmed. Shelke was the second-in-command of the Surya Kiran aerobatic team.The planes crashed around 11.50am near Isro Layout in Nagenahalli, about 17km from the Yelahanka Air Force Station, from where they had taken off.“Singh has fractures to both legs and was operated upon, while Vijay, who has relatively minor injuries, is undergoing scans,” a source said.Until late Tuesday, Gandhi’s body had not reached the hospital. Sources said an autopsy will be conducted as soon as it reaches the hospital and the remains will be handed over to the family as per procedure.The Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team has caught the eye at multiple Aero India shows and had recently upgraded to Hawk Mk-132 aircraft. They earlier flew the Kiran trainer aircraft, which has been decommissioned by the Indian Air Force (IAF).“Damage to life and property in the vicinity of the crash site is being ascertained,” an IAF spokesperson said in a statement shared with TOI.While the IAF has ordered a Court of Inquiry to investigate the cause of the accident, eye-witness accounts and videos show that one of the planes’ nose collided with the other’s tail, making it very difficult to recover for the pilots. The two aircraft were performing a close spin-and-cross manoeuvre, while the other aircraft were engaged in a separate formation.The rest of the Surya Kiran team (seven aircraft) landed in HAL airport and has been based there. As part of standard procedure, the aircraft will be grounded temporarily. They will not perform on Wednesday.While all Surya Kiran aircraft (Hawk) are twin seaters, the team generally flies with one pilot. On Tuesday, one aircraft involved in the crash had two pilots, both of whom ejected to safety. Gandhi was flying solo, sources said, and could not eject immediately as his aircraft lost its nose, and thereby, complete control.Four years ago to the day (February 19), two aircraft belonging to the Flying Bulls aerobatic team were involved in a mid-air collision right over the runway of the Yelahanka Air Force Station, very close to the tarmac area. However, the pilots recovered and landed safely as only the wings had clipped against each other. The Flying Bulls were performing for the crowd and, as TOI had reported then, nobody was injured.The Surya Kiran team had flown in full formation only on Monday during the full-dress rehearsals and all parameters of the flights were reported to be normal. With the Aero India inauguration scheduled for Wednesday, the team took off for morning sorties on Tuesday when the aircraft collided.Air Marshal RK Bhaduria, IAF Training Command chief, said: "When you operate nine aircraft in an aerobatic display team, there are risks, they have to operate very close to each other and the margin for error is low. It is an issue of skill building over time and risk factor, which is balanced with safety. In this particular incident, they were performing a mirror maneouvre, which is very risky. We aren't sure exactly what happened."Except the Surya Kirans, all other displays will go ahead as planned at Aero India.