Indian ‘Covid warrior’ pilot handed £8.4m bill for crash landing at airport

Captain Majid Akhtar alleges he was not told of an arrestor barrier on the runway that led to crash

Representational image of aircrafts at an airport runway in India (Getty Images)

A pilot from India’s central Madhya Pradesh state was handed a ₹850m (£8.4m) bill and his flying license suspended for a year for crash landing a plane at a city airport.

Captain Majid Akhtar, who was once touted as a “Covid warrior” for risking his life amid the pandemic, was ferrying a shipment of drugs used for treating Covid patients along with his co-pilot.

The state-owned plane they were flying, however, hit an arrestor barrier on the runway when they attempted a landing at the Gwalior airport on 6 May 2021.

The Beech Craft King Air B 250 GT aircraft was carrying 71 boxes of Remdesivir to Gwalior from western Gujarat state’s capital Ahmedabad.

All three persons on board, including Mr Akhtar, co-pilot Shiv Jaiswal and government official Dilip Dwivedi, escaped with minor injuries.

Mr Akhtar, who has 27 years of flying experience, alleged he was not informed of the barrier and demanded an inquiry into why the aircraft was not insured before being allowed to operate.

The plane was bought by the state in 2019 and reportedly did not have insurance at the time of the crash.

A charge sheet sent by the state government to Mr Akhtar claimed the aircraft was reduced to scrap due to the crash and had left the state government ₹600m (£5.9m) poorer.

Another ₹250m (£2.5m) was added as the cost to hire planes from other operators.

The Independent has learned that the captain’s flying license has been suspended for a year by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the country’s civil aviation regulator.

Mr Akhtar is currently awaiting the regulatory body to complete the investigation.

The matter is also being investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

In his reply to the charge sheet, the captain alleged the crash was caused by the barrier installed at the airport which the Air Traffic Controller failed to inform him about. He also reportedly alleged that the contents of the black box were not provided to him.

According to the NDTV news channel, the state government has accused the captain of failing to keep his licence valid after the crash.

Mr Akhtar, in his reply, added that he should not be held guilty until the end of the enquiry.

The captain is yet to receive a response from the government on his reply.