After a crash landing at Latur, providential escape at Alibag and a snag at Gadchiroli, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ helicopter had another scare at Nashik.
After a crash landing at Latur, providential escape at Alibag and a snag at Gadchiroli, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ helicopter had another scare at Nashik.
Fadnavis, who was heading to Aurangabad from Nashik, had taken off from the police parade grounds in the city on Saturday morning when the helicopter was forced to land due to excess weight. The chopper took off again for its destination after a passenger was offloaded. Fadnavis had flown down from Mumbai to Dhule on Friday and then left for Nandurbar. He had returned to Nashik by road and was leaving for Aurangabad.
State government officials said the helicopter was not hired by them but by the BJP. Fadnavis was accompanied by water resources minister Girish Mahajan, who is also Nashik’s guardian minister, his personal assistant Abhimanyu Pawar and an aide named Satish.
"After the takeoff, the helicopter did not stabilise. This forced the pilot to land again and offload a passenger after which it took off smoothly," said a senior state government official present at the spot.
“The helicopter may have had excess weight due to baggage as the chief minister was to travel to Nagpur from Aurangabad. The pilot may have decided to offload a passenger due to an imbalance,’ explained an official from Fadnavis’ staff.
On May 25, Fadnavis had a providential escape after a Sikorsky S-76C++ helicopter, bought in December 2011 for Rs 55 crore and met with a mishap at Nilanga in Latur after being entangled in overhead wires.
This came immediately after an incidence in the same month. On May 12, his helicopter had also developed a snag in Left wing extremism affected Gadchiroli forcing him to travel to Nagpur by road.
Later in July, Fadnavis had a close shave at Alibag when he was preparing to board a chopper. It had suddenly taken off with its blades coming close to his head.
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 "Devendra Fadnavis")
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