A Split Second from Disaster: How One Pilot’s Calm Saved Six Lives

Bhubaneswar: For a few harrowing moments in the skies above Rourkela, disaster seemed inevitable. An IndiaOne Air aircraft, just minutes away from landing, suddenly slipped into an emergency descent—its fate hanging by a thread. On the ground, unsuspecting farmers worked in a field, a house stood nearby, and high-tension electric wires loomed ominously. What followed, however, was not tragedy, but a remarkable story of courage, clarity, and professional brilliance.

At the controls was pilot Naveen Kadanga, whose presence of mind transformed a near-certain catastrophe into a life-saving maneuver. Eyewitnesses recall the aircraft dropping rapidly, a sight that froze them in fear. “It was coming straight towards us. Then suddenly, it changed direction,” one of them said on Monday.

That split-second decision made all the difference.

Faced with a critical mid-air crisis, Kadanga resisted panic and began scanning the terrain below—not just for a landing spot, but for people. Spotting three to four individuals working in a field and a nearby residence, he deliberately diverted the aircraft away from them, choosing instead to risk a rough forced landing through trees and beneath dangerously close high-tension wires.

The plane brushed treetops, jolted onto open ground, and finally came to a halt—damaged, but not engulfed in flames. Six lives onboard were saved. Several more on the ground were spared. Aviation experts and locals agree: a landing just a few metres away could have resulted in a massive explosion or multiple fatalities.

Both pilots sustained injuries, but hospital authorities have confirmed they are recovering well, as are the passengers. The incident site has since drawn teams from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, who are working to determine what caused the emergency so close to landing.

Transport minister Bibhuti Jena, who visited the site on Monday and met the injured, summed up public sentiment succinctly. Thanking pilots Naveen Kadanga and Tarun Srivastav, he acknowledged that lives were saved because they were willing to risk their own.