Overview
- The nine-seat Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (VT-KSS) on the Bhubaneswar–Rourkela UDAN route declared Mayday about 8–10 km short of the destination and landed in open ground near Jalda/Kansor around 1:20 pm IST.
- All six on board—two pilots and four passengers—survived, with injuries treated at Rourkela Government Hospital and J. P. Hospital, according to state officials.
- Odisha’s transport minister cited a sudden pressure drop and loss of balance as a preliminary account that remains under investigation.
- The DGCA was notified and investigative teams from the DGCA and AAIB were dispatched to examine the aircraft and determine the cause, with the site cordoned off due to leaking aviation fuel.
- Pilot Captain Naveen Kadanga and co-pilot Tarun Srivastav were among the injured, and authorities credited the crew’s belly landing with saving lives.