Air tragedies not new for political leaders

Tragedies have struck many air-borne political leaders even as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy has been missing after the helicopter carrying him lost contact since morning today.

Sanjay Gandhi was killed when the glider he was flying crashed at the Safdarjung airport in Delhi some 29 years back. Madhavrao Scindia was killed in a plane crash on September 30, 2001, less than a decade ago when he was travelling to Kanpur for addressing a Congress rally.

Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi died in a chopper crash on March 3, 2002 in West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. Haryana ministers O P Jindal and Surendra Singh were killed in a chopper crash a few years back.

Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress President and Union Ministers Prithviraj Chauhan and Selja had a miraculous escape in 2004 when the rear portion of their chopper broke on landing at a helipad in Khanvel, a village in south Gujarat.