It was a lucky escape for Vinayak Raikar, a software engineer, and his family on Tuesday as the exterior of their house caught fire after one of the aircraft brushed past and crashed only a few yards away.
Mr. Raikar told The Hindu that he heard about the incident through a neighbour.
“I was in office in Koramangala when I received a call from my neighbour. I immediately rushed home. Luckily, my wife and son were not at home either. My wife was in office in Manyata Tech Park and son was at the play school. After requesting the officials, I went inside the house. There were cracks in the window and pipelines were broken. The officials visited the house and took stock of the situation,” he said.
Mr. Raikar has been living in ISRO Akashvihar Layout in Yelahanka for two years.
The Fire and Emergency Services officials suspect that a wing of the aircraft hit the beam of the house, before crashing on a vacant site.
Dodde Gowda, a neighbour of Mr. Raikar, said the layout has 850-odd sites. However, only 70 to 80 houses have come up. Most sites are still vacant.
Shed damaged
Another Surya Kiran aircraft crashed on a farmland in the layout and caused damage to a shed.
The owner of the shed Narendra Babu said: “My marigold crop has been damaged. After the incident, the police and Air Force officials cordoned off the area. We are yet to get clarity on what happened to the two dogs and nine cows, which were inside the shed.”
Vehicles burnt
Two vehicles, including a tractor, and a water tank also got damaged in the incident.