Recap: Five people were killed when a 12-seater Beechcraft King Air C90 chartered aircraft on a test flight crashed in a residential area in Ghatkopar in suburban Mumbai today.


The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said two pilots, two Aircraft Maintenance Engineers on board and one person on ground were killed in the crash.


Eyewitnesses reported seeing a ball of flame and a hearing a loud crash at around 1:15 pm.

The plane is believed to have crashed when it was about to land.

Various images posted on Twitter show flames and thick, black smoke rising from the wreckage.


Police, fire brigade and disaster management teams rushed to the spot, Akhilesh Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-7) told PTI.

A fire brigade official said, "Our control room got a call at 1.15 pm informing a plane crash. Our jawans were immediately rushed at the site to launch the rescue operation. Four fire engines and as many water tankers were rushed to douse the fire that occurred after the plane crashed." The police cordoned off the area, an official said.

Further reports say that the plane was flying on a wrong flight path. Only passenger jets are allowed to fly on this flight path. 

A DGCA team is on its way to Mumbai for preliminary investigation into the plane crash. DG Civil Aviation B S Bhullar also said that an Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will be set up to conduct a detailed probe into the crash.


Principal Secretary Information Avnish Awasthi, Uttar Pradesh, said that he plane which had earlier belonged to the UP government was sold to Mumbai's UY Aviation. The deal was done after the plane had met with an accident in Allahabad.