Kolkata, Aug 28: The American pilot, who was killed in the single-seater aircraft crash immediately after take off from the NSC Bose International Airport here last night, was on a round the world tour, airport sources said today. The pilot Doeke De Graaf, a US national of Dutch origin was crossing over India after two halts at Ahmedabad and Kolkata when his chartered plane belonging to an American private operator southern cross aviation crashed 30 km away from the airport.
A villager was injured when the plane came down in a ball of fire at Sethpur in North 24 Parganas district barely half an hour of taking off for Singapore via Phuket in Thailand.
The sources said that the plane had some technical snag before reaching Kolkata in the afternoon yesterday and had taken off after necessary repairs and refuelling at around 8.30 pm.
Immediately after take off the pilot reported some problems again and sought permission for emergency landing but further communication to the control tower was snapped as the plane crashed.
The pilot's charred body was recovered from the plane's debris and sent for post-mortem this morning.
Police has cordoned off the crash site for necessary inquiry. A senior official of US consulate Rex Moser and the regional controller of air safety Ramnath visited the spot.
Ramnath told that he would soon send a report on the plane crash to the director general civil aviation in New Delhi. Bureau Report