A tragic event unfolded on Wednesday in Maharashtra’s Pune where two pilots and an engineer died after a chopper crashed and caught fire. The incident took place in the wee hours in hilly terrain in Bavdhan area after the helicopter took off from a helipad located at a golf course in the vicinity.
The chopper had three people on board- two pilots, Paramjit Singh and GK Pillai, and an engineer, Pritam Bharadwaj
Parts Scattered, Fire Flashed
“When we reached the spot, we saw that the chopper had crashed and all its parts had scattered. There was a smoldering fire. We were able to extract three casualties, and these were handed over to the police…Other information is yet to be ascertained,” chief fire officer Devendra Prabhakar Potphode told ANI.
According to preliminary information, the helicopter belonged to Heritage Aviation and was based in Pune. It had a registration number VT EVV, the police said.
The helicopter was chartered by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and was headed to Mumbai. According to NCP chief Sunil Tatkare, he was going to visit Raigad in the helicopter.
Fire Tankers at the Spot
The police revealed that four fire tankers from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) are presently at the spot.
While the investigation is underway and the exact cause is unknown if the crash has not yet been identified, police officials said that dense fog could have possibly led to the mishap.
Private Chopper Crashed in Pune
In August, a private chopper flying from Mumbai to Hyderabad had crashed in Pune’s Paud village. All four occupants survived the crash that took place near Paud, though they suffered injuries, a police official said.
“A private helicopter crashed near Paud village in Pune district. The helicopter belongs to a private aviation company. It was going from Mumbai to Hyderabad, four people were travelling in the helicopter, assessment of any injuries is being looked into,” Pankaj Deshmukh, superintendent of police (Pune Rural) told ANI.
