Technical snag in Pankaja Munde’s helicopter at airport; mishap averted

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

In a major development, a potential mishap involving the helicopter of BJP leader and State Environment Minister Pankaja Munde was averted on Tuesday after alert pilots and technical staff detected a technical snag before take-off at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar airport. Following the incident, Munde departed for Latur later in the afternoon in another helicopter.

Munde had arrived in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district on Monday to campaign for the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections. She addressed public meetings at Pishore, Ghatnandra, Ladsawangi, Aadgaon, Bajajnagar and other places. She stayed overnight in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Monday. On Tuesday morning, around 11 am, she was scheduled to leave from the airport for her planned meetings in Latur district. While preparations for the journey were underway, a technical fault was noticed in her helicopter. As a result, the pilot and technical staff declared the aircraft unfit for flight. Consequently, another helicopter was requisitioned from Mumbai.

Entry made with ATC

The technical fault in Munde’s helicopter was officially recorded with the airport’s Air Traffic Control (ATC). Airport officials confirmed that the issue was detected prior to take-off.

Six people on board

A total of six people, including Pankaja Munde, her personal assistant and bodyguard, were part of this travel plan.

Delay to the second helicopter as well

The second helicopter coming from Mumbai was also delayed. Airport sources said that adverse weather conditions caused the delay. Eventually, at around 2 pm, Munde departed for Latur in this helicopter.

Heightened seriousness after ‘Dada’s’ aircraft crash

The state’s deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar, recently met with a tragic death in an aircraft crash. On January 28, while travelling from Mumbai to Baramati for an election rally, his aircraft crashed. Following this incident, air travel safety has been viewed with greater seriousness. Against this backdrop, the technical fault in the helicopter used by Pankaja Munde has come to the fore.