Commander SK Maurya and Lieutenant Commander Rahul Nair was at the cockpit. According to eyewitnesses, Lt Cmdr Nair made a desperate attempt to eject from the aircraft. Though the parachute opened, it could not take the pilot away from the crash site. He first fell on electric cables and then on the ground and died. Cmdr Maurya died, trapped in the cockpit.
“We only saw one pilot dropping down like a stone. We did not even know that there was another pilot in the cockpit. The other pilot’s body was packed in a small box,” eyewitness Ram Kumar told DNA.
Eyewitnesses said the aircraft hit an overhead water tank of the building before hitting its top floor.“We were watching helplessly. We saw only the tail hanging out of the building,” another eyewitness said.
The death of the two pilots sent shock waves at their base at INS Hansa in Dabolim in Goa. The Sagar Pawan was founded in 2003. This was the first accident in its history.
Navy public relations officer MC Joshi told journalists that Commander Maurya from Uttar Pradesh is survived by his wife, while Lt Cmdr Rahul Nair from Delhi is survived by his wife and a five-year-old son.
Commander Maurya, 39, had an experience of nearly 1,800 flying hours. Maurya had been in the team for almost six years while Lt Commander Nair, 34, had flown MiG-21 aircraft before, Joshi said.
Founding leader of the team, Capt Surendra Ahuja, said the aircraft cannot be called unsafe because of the accident. He said the aircraft will fly soon. A board of enquiry was initiated after the mishap.
I deeply regret sad demise of Cdr. S.K. Maurya in air craft crash.
We Mauryas are already shortin community and that too at respectable position and due to this it is a loss to whole Maurya community.
N.K. Maurya
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