Private plane carrying officials of beer manufacturer crashes while taking off in UP’s Farrukhabad, pilots and passengers escape unhurt

A private aircraft crashed in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad on Thursday while taking off. The incident took place at a remote airstrip in Farrukhabad district, where the private jet lost control while taking off, veered off the runway and crashed into bushes. Miraculously, all occupants including four passengers and two pilots emerged unscathed.

The mishap occurred around 11:15 a.m. at the Mohammadabad airstrip, located in the Khimsepur industrial area on the outskirts of Farrukhabad. After staring its takeoff roll, the aircrate had covered around 400 metres on runway when it veered iff course and lost course, and came to a halt amid thick shrubbery just beyond the runway boundary.

Preliminary reports suggest that low air pressure in one of the aircraft’s wheels may have caused it to stray from the runway. However, the exact cause will be known after a full investigation.

The aircraft involved was a Beechcraft King Air C90 compact business jet bearing the registration number VT-DEJ, operated by Jet Service Aviation Pvt Ltd, a Delhi-based air charter and maintenance firm specializing in executive flights and MRO services. The twin-engine charter plane has a 2+6 configuration, 2 pilots and 6 passengers. Pilots Nasib Baman and Prateek Fernandes were in control at the time of the incident.

The plane had arrived earlier in the day carrying passengers including Ajay Arora, Deputy Managing Director of Woodpecker Green Agri Nutripad Pvt Ltd, who had arrived to inspect a beer manufacturing facility of the company under construction in the district’s industrial zone. An SBI official and several other officials of the company were also onboard the plane. The plane was reportedly en route to Bhopal after the routine site inspection when the incident occurred.

“All occupants are safe, and no injuries have been reported,” confirmed District Magistrate Ashutosh Kumar Dwivedi in a statement to the Press Trust of India (PTI). He added, “The private jet carrying the MD of an under-construction factory lost control during takeoff and went into nearby bushes. We are grateful for this fortunate outcome and have initiated a full probe in coordination with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).”

The passengers departed to their destination by car after the incident.

Local emergency services, including fire tenders and medical teams from Farrukhabad Civil Hospital, rushed to the scene within minutes. Visuals circulating on social media showed the jet’s fuselage tilted awkwardly after the crash landing, with its nose gear partially collapsed and minor damage to the wings and tail section. Rescue teams assisted the pilots and passengers in evacuating the aircraft, which remained intact enough to prevent any fire hazard. No ground casualties or property damage were reported, as the airstrip, a non-commercial facility primarily used for private charters, sits amid open fields.

Aviation experts noted that the pilots’ quick response in shutting down engines and executing an emergency landing likely prevented a worse outcome. “This was a textbook case of skilled airmanship under pressure,” remarked a DGCA spokesperson, who added that a joint team from the regional air safety directorate would examine the black box and wreckage on-site.

Farrukhabad, approximately 200 kilometers southeast of Lucknow, has seen increased private aviation activity in recent years due to industrial growth in its agro-processing and manufacturing sectors. The beer factory project, valued at over ₹500 crore, is expected to create hundreds of jobs upon completion next year and represents a key investment in the region’s economy.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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