Close shave for Raymond chief

MUMBAI: India’s celebratedaviator and chairman-emeritus of Raymonds, Vijaypat Singhania (62), and eightothers, including two crew members, had a miraculous escape on Monday afternoonwhen the door and the step ladder of the King Air C-90 aircraft in which theywere flying from Ratnagiri to Mumbai flew off, soon after the twin-engined planetook off at 12.45 pm.Singhania and his team had gone to Ratnagiri toattend the annual general body meeting of the firm.The flying time betweenRatnagiri and Mumbai is about 55 minutes. The aircraft belongs to a hotel groupin Udaipur and was operated and maintained by the Mumbai- based Air Works India.Air Works director Ravi Menon said, ‘‘The truth will be known onlyafter the team from the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation completes itsprobe.’’