Chandigarh, Dec 16, 2010: Thursday morning, a Pawan Hans helicopter that was heading to a helipad helicopter near Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's residence in Sector 1crashed shortly after its takeoff from Chandigarh airport and caught fire. Both helicopter pilots were injured.
The helicopter was bound for Mukerian in Hoshiarpur district with Industry and Local Government Minister Manoranjan Kalia as a passenger. Kalia was not injured, as the incident occurred before he was set to board the aircraft. According to Kalia, he was on his way to the helipad for a 10 a.m. departure when news reached him that the helicopter had crashed and caught fire.
The pilots, who were taken to the Command Hospital near Chandigarh with minor injuries, have been identified as S.P.S. Brar and M.S. Brar. An inquiry into the cause of the crash has been ordered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Airport officials said that the helicopter crashed in the airport and that it caught fire just after it took off. There were no further comments.
Chandigarh Airport director H.S. Toor would only say that the matter was being investigated and would not speak any further about it.
Fire engines arrived quickly on the scene to put out the fire. After the crisis situation was brought under control, police, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and airport officials cordoned off the helicopter crash area was.
The incident temporarily stopped all flight service to and from the Chandigarh airport, which shares air traffic with the neighboring Indian Air Force base. This interruption in service left many passengers stranded at the airport.
The Punjab government was leasing the helicopter in order to transport VIPs including the governor, chief minister, deputy chief minister and other ministers.
Area political VIPs have been victims of helicopter crashes and malfunction a number of times in previous years; in March 2005, industrialist O.P. Jindal and Surender Singh, two ministers from the early days of Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s government in Haryana, were killed in a helicopter crash. The helicopter, owned by Jindal, crashed near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The pilot was also killed in the crash.
Earlier this year, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s helicopter, leased to the Punjab government, had a difficult landing, hitting several tree branches along the way. Badal escaped unhurt.
Amarinder Singh, former chief minister survived not one, but two helicopter accidents. 20 km away from Chandigarh in Pinjore, his helicopter had to make an emergency landing on a school ground when there was a sudden loss of altitude. Also, at Gurdaspur, Singh’s helicopter fell to the ground moments after takeoff.