Kolkata: The pilot of a single seater American aircraft was killed and a villager suffered injuries when the plane crashed immediately after taking off from the NSC Bose International Airport.

The plane belonging to a private operator Southern Cross Aviation crashed in a ball of fire at Swetpuar village in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district within half an hour of take off for Singapore enroute Phuket in Thailand, according to Chayan Mukherjee, IG (law and order).

Captain Doeke De Graaf, pilot of the ill-fated SXA 180 aircraft, had taken off at around 20.30 hours (IST) on August 27 but sought permission for emergency landing after his plane developed some technical snag.

But the communication with the plane snapped immediately as it crashed 12 nautical miles from the airport, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) sources said.

The charred remains of Captain Graaf was found amongst the plane debris while a villager Keshto Das (40), suffered injuries on the ground, they added.

The burning plane first hit a tree and then brushed off the tiles of the roof of a house and broke into two pieces causing bruises to Keshto Das, sleeping in the open, the sources said.

The single seater had arrived from Bangalore carrying some technical problems and underwent necessary repairs and refuelling at Kolkata airport before becoming airborne.

The exact nationality of the killed pilot was yet to be ascertained, Mukherjee added.

PTI