SHIMLA: The plane crash in Himachal Pradesh which claimed the lives of illustrious Punjab and Himachal Pradesh Governor Surendra Nath and nine of his kin including four grandchildren was caused by some mechanical failure’ and not mainly by poor visibility according to preliminary evidence from the site.

The plane had caught fire soon alter it struck some trees on a mountain peak. The shepherd who saw the plane hitting the hill in the dense forests told the police that he heard a loud sound. The visibility was not bad but somehow the plane had lost height before Crossing to the Kamrooghati top he revealed to the authorities.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh who was in Mandau town when he received the first report of the missing plane said the fog was not the reason for the crash. He said the pilots had lost contact with a traffic control at Ieast 10 minutes before it actually crashed.

The plane had caught its normal route and that Supports the theory of some mechanical problem as its export pilots could not have missed the route even in case of less visibility The distress signals sent by the ill-fated plane were received by another passing flight which was on its way to New Delhi from Leh_ According to Virbhadra Singh the pilot R. D S Sandhu and his CO-pilot Pargat Singh were expenence pilots and familiar with the terrain.

Revenue Minister Gulab Singh who was coordinating the operation for identification of the bodies and their airlifting to Chandigarh Said the site of the crash presented a ghastly look with mangled bodies spread over a vast area he said the late Governor was wearing a light safari suit and he had on a Satya Sain baba ring.

The Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has not ruled out the possibility of i Sabotage in the crash of the aircraft

The Chief Minister told this correspondent that sabotage could not be ruled out although the air craft did not crash suddenly

He said that the Punjab Government aircraft In which Surendra Nath was flying to Kulu had sent distress signals while it was flying somewhere between Bilas pur and Mandi These SOS signals were intercepted by an Indian Airlines aircraft which flashed the message to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Chandigarh.

He however added that the real cause would be known only after investigations by the Director General of Civil Aviation who had ordered an enquiry into the crash by the Director AIR Safety were known The Punjab Government has also ordered its own enquiry separately.

A senior security officer also did not rule out the possibility of sabotage

He said that the aircraft was thoroughly checked before taking off with the VIP on board. Moreover the aircraft could have guided to the Bhuntar airport 12 aeronautical miles from the site of the crash had the engine failed

Article extracted from this publication >> July 15, 1994