Mumbai
Five people, including the pilots and crew, lost their lives and two bystanders injured after a Beechcraft King Air C90 turboprop aircraft crashed into an under-construction building at Ghatkopar in suburban Mumbai this afternoon, police and fire officials said.

The deceased have been identified as pilot Maria Zuber, co-pilot Pradeep Rajput, and aircraft maintenance engineers Surabhi and Manish Pandey.

The fifth person who died in the mishap was a watchman who was guarding the under-construction building. Two other bystanders who were injured in the incident have been identified as Lavkush Kumar and Naresh Nishad.

Both are undergoing treatment at the Rajawadi Hospital. Police officials quoting eyewitnesses in nearby buildings said the aircraft suddenly came down roaring and crashed into a building that was under construction meters away from a structure that was occupied.

“The number of casualties could have been much higher had the aircraft crashed into one of the buildings nearby,” the duty officer at the Ghatkopar police station said.

The 22-year old 12-seater aircraft was owned by UY Aviation which purchased it from the Uttar Pradesh Government in 2014.

UY Aviation, which is in the airplane charter business, is run by the Kothari family, who are promoters of Pan Parag pan masala, and the controversial Rotomac companies.

UY Aviation in a statement said the aircraft was on a maintenance flight from the Juhu airport and had crashed shortly before it was to land.

According to the company, the pilot was earlier employed with Jet Airways and had logged in more than 5000 hours of flying experience.

Former Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said the pilot’s presence of mind to bring down the aircraft on an under-construction building prevented a bigger tragedy.