Trekkers witnessed crash first-hand

Three of the 12 persons who had gone trekking to Naneghat in Thane rural happened to witness the helicopter crash from close proximity and were the first ones to reach the spot, where they saw headless bodies, with some of them still burning. They faced a difficult time alerting the police on emergency number 100. About 15 trees were destroyed as the chopper cut through them. One of the trekkers, Ashish Patil (35) from Pimpri, speaking to this newspaper said that he and his friends were in a cave on the Naneghat valley when they heard a huge noise made by the rotor blades of a helicopter. “It all happened in one minute. We came out and I saw a helicopter flying barely 100 metres away from us. It was a very foggy day and the helicopter had crashed about 80 metres into the valley,” said Mr Patil. He further added that there were high-tension wires hanging across the valley. “It seemed that the pilot was trying to land the helicopter, but it took a sudden U-turn and went straight down the valley. It took us two hours to reach the spot, as it was 80 metres deep. A cellphone was ringing, but we couldn’t locate it,” he added. Sachin Shintole, another one of the trekkers said that it took police over three hours to locate them. “I called on 100 constantly, but received no response. Then I called on 101 where a policeman from Bhiwandi picked up and told me to call the Kalyan Police, as it is their jurisdiction. Finally, I called a friend whose brother works for the Air Force,” said Mr Shintole.