Engine trouble caused Philippine plane crash

Thiruvananthapuram: Kaushik Mohan and his Filipino flying instructor were killed after their aircraft crashed in a paddyfield next to the airfield.
Filipino media reports said that they had completed flying lessons and were about to land at the Plaridel airfield when the Cessna 150 developed engine trouble. The plane exploded after crashing.
According to information received by Kaushik’s family, the plane had hit a power line before crashing.
Kaushik’s body is expected to be brought here on Tuesday, after a formal inquiry on Monday, family sources said.
Caught by the flying bug, Kaushik left for the Philippines in November last after opting for a seven-month package of 200 hours of training at $ 40,000.
He had completed 120 hours and was to have come home in May, his father Mohanakumaran Nair said.
In a way, flying was in the family for Kaushik. His father and brother were enthusiasts though none were full-fledged pilots.
“Kaushik had taken his BHM (Bachelor of Hotel Management) from the Manipal Academy and had also worked for two years at the Taj Residency, Bangalore, before he took up flying,” Mohanakumaran Nair said.
Cheap packages are drawing hundreds of Indian students to Filipino flying schools, but recent accidents have raised concerns about their safety and proficiency.
Only last week, a family in Kollam was shattered after hearing the news of the death of Kiran G Panicker, 23, a flight instructor with a Filipino flying school.
And in July, 2007, Varsha Gopinath, 18, a trainee-pilot from Eanchakkal, Thiruvananthapuram, was killed after her plane, a Cessna, collided mid-air in the Philippines.
02/03/08 Newindpress