Guests from the sky trigger panic, draw crowd

CHENNAI: Kiran Mark II, the Indian Air Force trainer aircraft that nosedived into Ayyanchery lake near Tambaram, drew as many visitors as it triggered panic.Among those who first realised something was amiss was Durairaj, an engineer by profession, as he heard a loud explosion overhead while on his way home on his motorcycle. “I looked up and saw two pilots in parachutes gliding down while the jet was heading towards the lake,” he told Express. “We first thought it was a bomb blast; it delayed our reaction time. Everyone came out to see what was wrong,” Durairaj observed. Durairaj immediately called up the TANGEDCO to cut off power supply as one pilot was dangling from the overhead electric line. “But even before the electricity department could act, the wires snapped...,” other eyewitnesses added. “When we rushed to the pilots to check their condition, both gave a ‘thumbs up’,” they said. Maids Chinna Ponnu and Anjali ran to fetch drinking water for their ‘guests from the sky’.Christopher Sundarraj, a student, who had found out the names and the ranks of the pilots, said Wing Commander C G Deepak contacted the airbase through his radio. Children from the local government school thronged the site to sneak a glance at the wreckage.