A private training aircraft crashed in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur on Thursday morning, in which the pilot and the co-pilot were killed on the spot, as per police. Officials said the cause behind the crash is yet to be ascertained. 

The incident unfolded near the Ganga barrage in Nattupurwa village in the Katri area. The pilots who died have been identified as instructor Sachin Bhatia, a resident of Gujarat, and trainee pilot Abhishek Pujari, a native of Karnataka, Kanpur’s Police Commission Raghubir Lal said. 

Aircraft crashes during return flight

Lal said the aircraft took off from the training centre at around 11:30 am and crashed 20 minutes later while returning to the starting spot. 

The twin-engine Tecnam aircraft had been brought to the flight training school for training purposes back in 2023. Bhatia had close to 3,000 hours of flying experience, the top cop said. 

The aircraft crashed into a field, with debris scattered across the area. Upon hearing a loud sound, the locals rushed to the scene. 

Police and other officials too reached the site and began taking stock of the situation. 

Police Commissioner Lal said that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been informed about the accident. He added that the DGCA  officials shall carry out a probe to determine what led to the crash. 

Recent aircraft accidents reported from UP, Maharashtra

The Kanpur incident comes amid a string of incidents involving training aircraft in recent months. In June 2026, a female trainee pilot escaped with minor injuries after a two-seater training aircraft crashed into a field in UP’s Kasganj district. The aircraft took off from Aligarh airport for a training sorties, but later crashed near Police Lines in district headquarters on June 29. 

Earlier in May this year, a training aircraft belonging to the Redbird Flight Training Academy made a hard landing near Gojubavi village in Maharashtra’s Baramati district. 

The incident transpired between 8:30 am and 9 am on May 13 during a routine training session from Baramati airport. Pune’s Rural Superintendent of Police (SP) Sandeep Singh Gill said the incident was not a crash, explaining that the plane collided with a pole while landing. The pilot, who was alone onboard, was reported safe post-incident.