NEW DELHI: India has witnessed 27 accidents since 2015 that involved Indian civil and foreign registered aircraft and helicopters that killed 40 people and Maharashtra tops the list of accidents.

Maharashtra witnessed 10 accidents since 2015. Aircraft was involved in five accidents while helicopters met five accidents including the one in Latur city last year where chief minister Devendra Fadnavis escaped unhurt. One accident in Pune involved a glider aircraft. Five accidents took place in Mumbai while others were in several parts of the state. Overall 18 people lost their lives in accidents in Maharashtra.

While Delhi witnessed three accidents with ten deaths, seven people died in Jammu and Kashmir in one accident. Six Vaishno Devi pilgrims and a woman pilot were killed in 2015 when the helicopter crashed at the new bus stand ground in Jammu’s Katra town.

States that witnessed one accident without any deaths include Nagaland, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Goa.

Arunachal Pradesh saw one accident that killed 3 people while one person was killed in Karnataka which had 2 accidents. Madhya Pradesh had 3 accidents but none of these accidents was fatal. One person was killed in Uttarakhand in one accident.

According to the data presented by the civil aviation ministry to the Lok Sabha investigation in all ten accidents that took place in 2015 has been completed. Out of seven accidents in 2016, the probe has been completed in five cases. Seven accidents in 2017 and three in 2018 are under investigation.

Based on the review of investigation reports, 24 pilots were suspended or off-rostered and were released subsequently after undergoing the corrective training. “58 aircraft maintenance engineers were found blameworthy for snags due to maintenance errors, accordingly they were issued suspension/ warning. Aerodrome license of one airport was suspended due to deficient upkeep of operational area” stated the ministry.

