Bhopal: A trainer aircraft crashed in the hilly region of Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat district on Saturday. The aircraft went up in flames soon after the crash killing a trainee female pilot and the plane’s instructor.

According to reports, the chartered aircraft, owned by Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi, was on a training sortie. The aircraft took off from Birsi airport in Gondia district of Maharashtra on Saturday afternoon.

Confirming the crash, Birsi airstrip controller Kamlesh Meshram said the aircraft’s last recorded location was in Kirnapur in Balaghat around 3.45 pm. The mangled body of the aircraft was located in Bhakku Tola village in Kirnapur hills area.

“Prime facie bad weather may have caused the crash as hail storm was occuring in Balaghat,” the official said.

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A flying instructor & a trainee female co-pilot of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy IGRUA #Gondia were killed after an aircraft they were flying crashed in the dense forest of village Bhakkutola, Kirnapur near #Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh. Cause of the #crash are yet unknown. pic.twitter.com/BaOvEzlXQq
— Praveen Mudholkar (@JournoMudholkar) March 18, 2023