Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday had a miraculous escape when his helicopter crash-landed in Nilanga near Latur seconds after take-off.
The six-seater US-made Sikorsky VT-CMM helicopter got entangled in wires while landing from about 70 ft and was badly damaged.
Fadnavis tweeted that he and everyone else were safe because of the “blessings of 11 crore people of Maharashtra”.
“I am safe. There was a minor accident involving the helicopter. People shouldn’t believe in rumours,” Fadnavis said later.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it will hold an inquiry into the accident. In a statement, the DGCA said: “A Maharashtra government Sikorsky helicopter VT-CMM took off from Nilanga SE of Latur at 1200 hrs with six persons on board, including Fadnavis.
After the take-off, the pilot decided to land back as he found a variable wind pattern. During the landing, the helicopter got entangled in wires and fell down. All on board were safe.”
A state Revenue Department official, who was at the site, admitted that the accident could have been worse and that it was indeed a miracle that no one was hurt. It was possibly a combination of lack of safety check-ups of the chopper and safety measures on the ground that led to the accident, he said.
Another officer pointed out that there was an electricity transformer very close to the landing site. “Had the transformer exploded, it would have led to a major disaster,” he said.
Just before the accident took place, Fadnavis was in Halgara village in Latur as part of the party’s ShivarSamvad initiative, a statewide campaign to reach out to farmers. He was accompanied by Additional Chief Secretary Pravin Pardeshi, Public Relations Officer Ketan Pathak, and his personal assistant Abhimanyu Pawar, besides the two pilots.
What makes Thursday’s accident alarming is that it was preceded by another one on May 12 when the Chief Minister was forced to travel by road through a Maoist-affected area after his chopper developed a snag in Gadchiroli.
Yesterday, Fadnavis was taken to a local BJP leader’s house in Nilanga from where he released a video announcing his well-being to quell any rumours. He then flew to Mumbai in another aircraft and left for his scheduled work. He didn’t even meet us, his wife Amruta said. “He called home and spoke to me and my mother-in-law just to reassure us he was safe. That, too, was a very brief chat,” she said. “It was a shock, but since he spoke to us there was no panic. I am not home yet, and neither is he. We will probably discuss this in detail when he comes later in detail,” she said.
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