Pune. Two former Air Force pilots and an engineer died when a helicopter of a private aviation company crashed and caught fire in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Wednesday morning. Police gave this information. Lok Sabha member and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state president Sunil Tatkare told ‘PTI-Bhasha’ that this helicopter, owned by Delhi-based private company ‘Heritage Aviation’, was hired by the party.
Sunil Tatkare told that he had traveled by helicopter a day earlier and on Wednesday he had to travel again by the same.
Police said that the helicopter 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 took place in a hilly area of Bavdhan area, which is near a golf course and about 25 kilometers from Pune city.
He said that the deceased have been identified as retired Indian Air Force pilot Paramjeet Singh (62) and co-pilot GK Pillai (57) and aircraft maintenance engineer Pritam Kumar Bhardwaj (53). An official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that the incident occurred at 7:40 am. He confirmed that the crashed Agusta 109 helicopter belonged to Delhi-based private company ‘Heritage Aviation’.
Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey said, “Three people died in the helicopter crash.” Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishal Gaikwad said that the helicopter of Heritage Aviation had taken off from the helipad of Oxford County Golf Course but it crashed in the hilly area near Bavdhan, killing two pilots and an engineer on board the helicopter.
An official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also said that the incident occurred at 7:40 am. He confirmed that the crashed Agusta 109 helicopter belonged to Delhi-based private company ‘Heritage Aviation’.
Pimpri Chinchwad Joint Commissioner of Police Shashikant Mahavarkar said that the helicopter took off from the helipad of Oxford County Golf Course at around 7.30 am. Citing preliminary information, he said that the helicopter crashed due to fog in the area. Mahavarkar said, “The real reasons for the accident will become clear only after a detailed investigation.” NCP’s Raigarh MP Tatkare told PTI over phone that this incident is unfortunate.
He said, “I am very saddened by this incident. The party had hired a helicopter and on Tuesday I took it to Parli in Beed district. Today, I had to go from Mumbai to Raigarh in the same helicopter.” Earlier, on August 24, a private helicopter going from Mumbai to Hyderabad had crashed in Paud area near Pune. The people in the helicopter had a narrow escape.