Mumbai: A helicopter carrying Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was forced to make an emergency landing soon after taking off due to overloading. The incident occurred early on Saturday, when Mr. Fadnavis was being flown from Nashik to Aurangabad. The CM was scheduled to inaugurate the Maharashtra National Law University’s new campus, officials said.
This is the fourth near-mishap in helicopters this year for Mr. Fadnavis. The spate of mishaps has forced the State government to add a new chopper to its ageing fleet.
On Saturday, the helicopter could not stabilise in air, reportedly due to overloading, and was forced to land as soon it took off. Senior government officers said there were four people on board, including Irrigation Minister Girish Mahajan, the CM’s assistant and cook. Authorities, however, denied the helicopted was overloaded.
Government officers said a maximum of four passengers was allowed on the six-seater helicopter due to fuel issues. “Before take-off, the pilot felt the helicopter should carry only three people, so they returned to Nashik and requested to offload one passenger. This is a routine procedure.”
A State government officer said, “As the helicopter was unable to attain the altitude required to fly, some luggage was also offloaded. This is not a major issue. The CM travelled by the same chopper and attended all events in Aurangabad as per schedule.”
This is the latest in a series of incidents involving Fadnavis while flying in a helicopter. On July 7, before take-off in a helicopter from Alibaug near Mumbai, Fadnavis narrowly missed being struck by the chopper’s tail rotor when the pilot inexplicably started the engines before the CM had boarded. Security guards accompanying Mr. Fadnavis had pushed him out of harm’s way.
On May 25, the rotor of a helicopter carrying him became entangled with power lines and crash-landed seconds after ttake-off from Nilanga in Latur district. The CM's media advisor Ketan Pathak suffered minor injuries.
The Sikorsky helicopter took off at noon from Nilanga and crash-landed close to the helipad, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The Chief Minister was on his way back to Mumbai after a breakfast meeting with farmers in Nilanga.
On May 10, a helicopter assigned to fly the CM to Nagpur crashed before reaching the pick-up location in Gadchiroli.
