California: A twin-engine plane owned by an Indian-origin cardiologist has crashed near Californian suburb of Santee, killing two people, including the physician, and causing a fire that engulfed nearby homes.
Dr Sugata Das, who worked as an Interventional Cardiologist at Yuma Regional Medical Centre (YRMC) in Arizona, owned the small plane. However, there’s no confirmation whether Das was the pilot at the time of the crash, a CBS/NBC-affiliated TV station, reported.
The plane was heading in to land at Montgomery-Gibbs executive airport in San Diego when it crashed. Shortly before, when the plane was about a half-mile from the runway, an air traffic controller alerted the pilot that the aircraft was too low. The controller repeatedly urges the plane to climb to 5,000 feet. According to a video from a viewer shows that the plane arcing in the sky and then plunging into the neighbourhood in a burst of flames.
The crash near Santana high school in Santee burned at least two homes, damaged five others and several vehicles, but responding firefighters were able to put out the blaze before it spread to other houses. Another person who died was a UPS worker who was on the ground. According to the FAA, the plane was a twin-engine Cessna C340. “We do not yet know how many people were on board,” it said. The Cessna C340 is usually used for business and is pressurized. The plane has the capacity to seat six passengers.
Born in a Bengali family, Das grew up in Pune. Das, a licensed pilot, lived in San Diego and commuted back and forth to Yuma. He leaves two sons.
