A trainer aircraft overturned while landing at the Suktara airstrip in Seoni district, Madhya Pradesh, on Friday morning, May 30, 2025. According to police reports, the trainee woman pilot, who was the sole occupant of the aircraft, is safe and did not sustain any major injuries.

The incident occurred due to a faulty landing, which caused the aircraft to flip over on the runway, according to a police official. The Suktara airstrip is located approximately 22 kilometers from the Seoni district headquarters. The airstrip is maintained by the Madhya Pradesh Public Works Department but is utilized by the Delhi-based Red Bird Aviation Company to operate a pilot training school.

Following the incident, District Collector Sanskriti Jain has requested the concerned department to conduct a thorough inquiry to determine the exact cause of the accident.

According to preliminary information, the trainee pilot attempted to land the aircraft using the front landing gear instead of the rear one, which led to the aircraft going out of control and subsequently overturning.

Employees of Red Bird Aviation Company immediately took steps to empty the fuel tank of the aircraft to prevent a fire. Fortunately, a major tragedy was averted as the aircraft did not catch fire during the crash landing, according to the police official.

Lalit Ghatre, Barghat Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), stated that the Red Bird Aviation Company employees did not initially inform the police about the incident, which occurred under the Kurai police station limits. Instead, they alerted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) Bhopal office, which then informed the police. The police then contacted Santosh Sanodia, the company's airstrip manager, to obtain further details. Sanodia declined to comment on the incident.

Flights of trainee aircraft from Suktara airstrip have been temporarily suspended. A DGCA team is expected to arrive at Suktara airstrip soon to conduct an inspection and prepare a detailed report, according to the police official.

In a similar incident last year, a training aircraft crashed at Madhya Pradesh's Guna Airport, injuring a female pilot. The aircraft, which had taken off from Sagar, requested an emergency landing at Guna airport but lost balance upon landing and veered off the runway. Also in early May of last year, a trainee aircraft crashed while taking off from Uttar Pradesh's Dhanipur airstrip after colliding with the airport wall; the trainee pilot in that incident also narrowly escaped injury.