Fadnavis copter crash-lands
The chopper fell from a height of 80 feet, CM and team are unhurt, probe ordered
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and five others had a providential escape when their chopper crash-landed just after taking off from Nilanga in Latur district. The helicopter fell to the ground after hitting overhead electric cables. An unhurt chief minister later tweeted, “We are absolutely safe and ok. Nothing to worry.”
Fadnavis was accompanied by his principal secretary Pravin Pardeshi, personal assistant Abhimanyu Pawar and media advisor Ketan Pathak. The chopper had two pilots. The CM had gone to the area in Marathwada for the BJP’s Shivar Samwad Sabha, a campaign meant to reach out to farmers.
“We took off from at 12 noon, the wind speed was pretty high. Later, when we gained some height, the wind speed suddenly reduced. In aviation parlance, this is known as variable wind pattern. Our chopper started coming down, there was a high-tension electrical cable nearby. We tried avoiding it, but by then, the copter hit the wires and fell to the ground,” Capt Sanjay Karve, pilot of the helicopter, said after the accident.
As the chopper appeared to lose control and suddenly came hurtling down to the ground from a height of around 80 feet, parts of its debris flew at least 100 feet away, damaging two hutments and injuring seven persons, including two women, a Nilanga police official said. Later, Fadnavis said a high-level probe would be conducted into the incident to ascertain whether there were any security lapses.
“With the blessings of the people of Maharashtra, I'm safe. My team is fine too. Please do not believe any rumours,” Fadnavis tweeted minutes after the first tweet. “Fortunately, I have the blessings of more than 11 crore people of Maharashtra so I have escaped without any injuries,” he said in a video message released later.
“Nobody got hurt. Ketan Pathak suffered minor injuries. There will be a regular Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) inquiry into the incident,” he told reporters later while leaving for Mumbai.
The US-made Sikorsky chopper helicopter in question is around six years old and has now beyond repair, a DGCA official said. “The incident will be investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) which comes under the civil aviation ministry,” he added. AIB authorities, it is believed have already spoken to the commander of the chopper and the chief minister. The helicopter was scheduled to return to the helipad at Governor's House and after the passengers had alighted, proceed to its designated parking bay at the Juhu aerodrome, a state government official said.
Recently, on May 12, the helicopter had developed a snag just before taking off from Naxal violence-hit Gadchiroli district: one of its engines could not be started. Chief minister Fadnavis, who was a passenger on that flight too, had to travel by road to Nagpur.
Governor Vidyasagar Rao and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray called Fadnavis after hearing about the incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah, too, got in touch with the chief minister on hearing about the mishap.