Sunil Tatkare had flown the helicopter just a day before
Pune:
Two former air force pilots and an engineer were killed after a helicopter belonging to a private aviation company crashed and caught fire near the city of Pune on Wednesday morning, police said. The helicopter, belonging to Delhi-based Heritage Aviation, was hired by the Nationalist Congress Party, said Maharashtra unit chief and MP Sunil Tatkare. He had flown in the helicopter just a day before and was due to travel in it again on Wednesday, he told news agency PTI.
The chopper had taken off from the Oxford County Golf Course helipad near Pune and was heading towards Juhu in Mumbai when it crashed at 7.40 am, police said.
The accident occurred near a hilly terrain in Bavdhan area, near the golf course and about 25 km from Pune city, police said.
The victims were identified as pilot Paramjeet Singh (62), co-pilot GK Pillai (57), both retired from the Indian Air Force; and aircraft maintenance engineer Pritam Kumar Bhardwai (53), police said.
An official from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the incident took place at 7.40 am. It was an Agusta 109 helicopter belonging to Heritage Aviation, he confirmed.
After the crash, the helicopter caught fire, police said, adding that fire trucks and water tankers were sent to the scene.
The helicopter took off from the helipad at the Oxford County Golf Course around 7.30am, said Pimpri Chinchwad, Joint Commissioner of Police Shashikant Mahavarkar.
Initial information suggests that fog caused the accident, but a detailed investigation will establish the exact cause, he added.
Speaking to PTI over phone, NCP MP Tatkare said the incident was unfortunate.
“I am deeply saddened by the incident. The helicopter was hired by our party and on Tuesday I flew it to Parli in the Beed district. Today I had to fly from Mumbai to Raigad (his constituency) in the same helicopter,” he said.
On August 24, a private helicopter flying from Mumbai to Hyderabad crashed in Paud area near Pune, but its passengers survived.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published by a syndicated channel.)
