Two pilots, engineer killed as Mumbai-bound helicopter crashes in Pune hills

Pune (Maharashtra): At least three persons, including two pilots and an aircraft engineer, were feared killed after a helicopter flying over the Bavdhan area in Pune crashed in the hilly terrain, officials said here on Wednesday.

The chopper had taken from Oxford Golf Club for a flight to Juhu Airport in Mumbai and is believed to have crashed around 7.50 a.m., barely three to four minutes after it was airborne, and the region had a thick fog, said a police officer speaking from the site of the tragedy.

This is the second incident of its kind in the Pune hills after a private helicopter on a Mumbai-Hyderabad flight crashed in the region on August 24, injuring four, and before that, on May 3, a helicopter flying to pick up Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare had crashed near a helipad in Raigad.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Minister Chandrakant Patil said that as per preliminary information, the crash may have occurred owing to some technical snag and suspected poor visibility, which will be probed.

As per certain unverified reports, the ruling Nationalist Congress Party state President Sunil Tatkare was planning to take a flight on the same ill-fated chopper. It was flying to Mumbai to pick up Tatkare for a flight in the day, after flying to certain places in Beed on Tuesday.

An official said that the police control was informed of the tragedy by a caller and immediately a team was set up, including the local fire brigade, which rushed to the crash spot, in a hilly and densely forested area of the ghats.

The police also informed the local aviation authorities and a team of experts is rushing from Mumbai for a probe into the tragedy.

The Hinjewadi Police Station along with aviation officials are coordinating to assess the situation and other details, including the identity of the victims, shifting their bodies for autopsy, etc.

More details are awaited.