A Tecnam P-Mentor training aircraft operated by Redbird Flying Training Academy hard-landed at Solapur airport after taking off from Baramati, damaging its nose wheel and leaving the aircraft stranded on the runway. The trainee pilot, identified by the academy as Jyoti Tanwar, was safe and did not suffer injuries.
The incident occurred at about 2 pm after the single-engine, twin-seater aircraft departed from the academy’s base at Baramati around 1.15 pm. The trainee pilot had completed 160 hours of flying, and sources cited in the report said she was learning to land when the aircraft came down hard.
The hard landing caused the aircraft’s nose wheel to break and bend. Its front portion then came into contact with the runway as it slowed, while the front tyre burst. The aircraft eventually came to rest on its front body, according to the academy spokesperson quoted by the Times of India.
“The incident happened around 2 pm. It was a hard landing which resulted in damage to the nose wheel. We are currently coordinating with the Solapur airport authorities to retrieve the aircraft,” the spokesperson said. The academy also said the aircraft was relatively new and had been acquired from its manufacturer in Italy in 2025.
Anjani Kumari, director of Solapur airport, said the aircraft could be removed only after inspection by a Directorate General of Civil Aviation team and clearance from the regulator. The airport is managed by the Airports Authority of India. Kumari said there were no scheduled aircraft movements at Solapur at that time and that the aircraft had not veered off the runway.
The incident has temporarily affected runway availability at an airport that also handles scheduled and other flight operations. The report did not specify how long the runway would remain unavailable or whether any flights were cancelled. Removal of the aircraft is subject to the DGCA inspection and clearance process.
Baramati, about 150 km from Solapur by air, hosts Redbird Flying Training Academy and Carver Aviation. Both organisations use the Baramati airstrip for pilot training and non-scheduled flight operations. The airstrip is managed by the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited.
The Solapur incident follows other training-aircraft mishaps reported around Baramati. In August, a Carver Aviation training aircraft veered off the table-top runway during a training exercise, with both occupants escaping unhurt. In another incident the previous August, a Redbird Academy aircraft hard-landed and veered off the runway, leaving the trainee pilot with minor injuries.
The report also noted that no flying training organisation was placed in the DGCA’s top A+ or A categories in the regulator’s first ranking of flying schools last year. Aviation analyst Dhairyashil Vandekar had earlier called for stronger oversight of flying training organisations and non-scheduled operators, including closer attention to pilot-training standards and aircraft airworthiness. The aircraft at Solapur is to be inspected by a DGCA team before it can be removed from the runway.
