Three persons were killed when an army training helicopter crashed on Friday afternoon at the Gandhinagar area in Nashik.
An army training chopper met with the mishap during a winching operation.
NASHIK: Three persons were killed when an army training helicopter crashed on Friday afternoon at the Gandhinagar area in Nashik.
The training helicopter that belongs to the Combat Army Aviation Training School (CAATS) in Gandhinagar had two trainee pilots onboard when it crashed. Apart from them, a ground technician was also killed in the mishap.
“Preliminary investigations point to a mechanical fault. The aircraft was on the runway, some 100 feet above the ground, when the mechanical failure occurred and the main rotor blades caught fire. Bodies of the three men inside the aircraft were completely charred. A court of inquiry has been ordered in the matter and an inquiry team from the headquarters in Delhi will conduct the inquiry,” said Brig TS Gill, commandant, CAATS. According to sources, the Cheetah chopper was conducting a winching operation, 50 feet above the ground. Preliminary reports state that the main rotor of the helicopter was separated following which it crashed and exploded. The two trainee pilots who died in the mishap were identified as Major Rohit Yadav and Major Rodakiya Chakravarty. The technician was identified as MG Gothi.
The Cheetah that crashed had flown about 3,000 hours. It had made a sortie in the morning for two and a half hours on the same day.
The commandant informed that as a precautionary measure all the 32 aircraft in the training fleet at Gandhinagar have been grounded for mechanical checks. This will take about two days to complete.
The Nashik police are investigating the matter.
The Cheetah has been used for training for many years now. The French-made chopper has a capacity of carrying 5 persons.
Army officials said they were investigating into the mishap.
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