Belagavi, May 30 (IANS): A major tragedy was averted as a training aircraft developed technical snag and made an emergency landing at a farm in Marihal police station limits of Belagavi district in Karnataka on Tuesday.

The training aircraft VT-RBF belonged to Redbird Institute and took off from the Sambra Airport in Belagavi and was on routine sortie. Two persons including the pilot were on board, according to sources. The pilot suffered minor injuries.

Belagavi District Fire Officer, Shashidhar Neelagar, stated that the incident took place at 9.40 a.m. As soon as the airport authorities were informed, a water tanker and a rescue team were rushed to the spot.

"We found the training aircraft crash landed on agricultural land. The pilot is safe and he has been sent to the hospital," he said.

The arrival of the technical team is awaited and the team will ascertain the exact cause for the emergency crash landing, he stated.