Munda’s helicopter ‘20 years old’

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The seven-seater, twin-engine Agusta 109 copter on lease from Aryan Aviation had taken off from Ranchi at 11 am with Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda, his wife Meera and others for Kharsawan, where the chief minister was scheduled to address a public meeting and lay the foundation stone for a power substation.

The pilots failed to land the copter at Kuchai near Kharsawan and decided to fly back to Ranchi for safety, said sources.

At the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi, the two pilots made the best efforts to make an emergency landing of the copter that was showing severe turbulence and imbalance perhaps due to a defunct tail router.

To avoid a possible fire and blast in the event of crash landing, the two pilots flew seven rounds in the sky to use up all the fuel in the copter, said sources.

With the ATC and the Ranchi district administration already informed, ambulances and the fire brigade were already stationed at the airport.

With the helicopter being reportedly a 20-year-old one, there was an outcry among Jharkhand’s politicians for a new, suitable one for VVIP flying. The two pilots were praised by various politicians and bureaucrats who visited the Munda couple at the hospital.

On April 27, the same helicopter had to make an emergency landing in Jamshedpur on its flight to Ranchi due to a technical snag.

Meanwhile, a senior DGCA official based in Kolkata has been appointed as the inquiry officer in the
case. Top DGCA sources said on Wednesday evening that a preliminary conclusion would be reached only after the DGCA team examined the site of the crashlanding and sent its report.

The DGCA will examine whether the helicopter was air-worthy, whether it had all the clearances to fly, and whether all procedures for VIP operations were being followed. While the pilots had reported a technical glitch in the copter, the DGCA will also examine whether there was any pilot error.

In the past three years, two chief ministers have lost their lives in helicopter crashes.