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Two naval aircraft collide in Goa; 15 killed

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji and Josy Joseph in New Delhi

Two IL-38 transport aircraft of the Indian Navy collided in midair near Dabholim airport, nearly 35 km from Panaji, on Tuesday morning killing twelve naval personnel.

One plane fell on a bungalow under construction near the MES college at Zuarinagar, hardly two km from the airport, leading to the death of three labourers and injuring ten, while the other crashed near the naval museum, which is located near the airport.

Altogether 15 persons have been injured, with five suffering over 60 per cent burns. They have been admitted to the Goa Medical College hospital in Panaji.

Three workers were reported missing.

The dead personnel include five crewmembers and seven pilots. The planes, belonging to the INS Hansa, were flying parallel to each other, as part of the squadron's silver anniversary celebration, when their wings got entangled.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has declared a compensation of Rs 200,000 each for the dead, Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured and Rs 25,000 each for those having minor injuries.

Till now, three bodies of naval personnel have been recovered.

In Delhi, Indian Air Force chief S Krishnaswamy rejecting reports of head on collision said the wings of the two aircraft got entangled while they were flying in a close formation.

Krishnaswamy said he spoke to naval chief Admiral Madhvendra Singh, and 'my understanding is that there won't be any survivors in the two aircraft'.

An IAF spokesman, Squadron leader Dhingra, said the accident occurred around 1000 IST.

Dabholim airport has been shut down.

Names of the dead naval personnel:

• Lt Commander (O) A C Karadi
• Lt Commander (P) K S Rathore
• Lt Commander (P) SK Datta
• Lt Commander (O) NV Nirmal
• Vijay Kumar AA3
• I Prakash CPOR (tel)
• Lt Commander (P) R Saini
• Lt Commander (P) SK Yadav
• Lt Commander (O) JD Datta
• George MCAAI
• Anil Kumar
• JP Singh CPOR (tel)

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