Pune, Oct 2 (PTI) Two ex-IAF pilots and a former Navy engineer were killed after a helicopter belonging to a private aviation company crashed and caught fire near Pune city on Wednesday morning, police said.
The chopper, belonging to Delhi-based Heritage Aviation, had been hired by the Nationalist Congress Party, said its Maharashtra unit chief and MP Sunil Tatkare. He had flown in the helicopter only a day before, and was supposed to travel by it again on Wednesday, he told PTI.
The chopper took off from Oxford County Golf Course helipad near Pune and was heading to Juhu in Mumbai when it crashed at 7.40 am, police said.
The crash took place near a hilly terrain in Bavdhan area, close to the golf course and some 25 km from Pune city.
The deceased were identified as pilot Paramjeet Singh (62), co-pilot G K Pillai (57), both retired from the Indian Air Force; and aircraft maintenance engineer Pritam Kumar Bhardwaj (53) who had retired from the Indian Navy, police officials said.
An official from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that the incident took place at 7.40 am. It was an Agusta 109 helicopter belonging to Heritage Aviation, he added.
After the crash, the chopper caught fire, a local police official said, adding that fire tenders and water tankers were rushed to the spot.
The helicopter had taken off from the helipad of Oxford County Golf Course around 7.30 am, said Pimpri Chinchwad Joint Commissioner of Police Shashikant Mahavarkar.
Primary information suggested fog led to the accident but a detailed investigation will ascertain 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 had flown in it to Parli in Beed district. Today, I was supposed to fly from Mumbai to Raigad (his constituency) in the same helicopter,” he said.
Meanwhile, a probe team has been sent to the spot to collect material evidence, said a senior official of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), a division of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. “We will publish a preliminary report as soon as possible,” he added.
On August 24, a private helicopter flying from Mumbai to Hyderabad had crashed in Paud area near Pune, but its occupants survived.