A chartered helicopter crashed in a valley in Naneghat in Thane rural killing all five persons on board, including a retired Indian Air Force (IAF) Commodore early on Sunday morning. Investigators are considering everything from bad weather involving low visibility due to heavy fog and technical failure as the causes behind the crash. According to AAI and ATC officials from Juhu, the Bell 219 helicopter — owned by city-based United Helicharters company — took off from the Juhu aerodrome at 7.47 am and changed communication to the Mumbai Air Traffic Control within a few minutes of getting airborne. “It was in touch with the Mumbai ATC while nearing Thane. The ATC at Aurangabad was also informed about the helicopter’s arrival but it did not receive any intimation from the pilot and reported ‘losing contact’,” explained an ATC officer from Juhu. This is when the Aurangabad ATC contacted the Mumbai ATC at around 9.15 am to know of the helicopter’s status. Meanwhile, villagers had found the crash and informed the local police and around the same time, Mumbai ATC intimated the Director General of Police (DGP) office about the accident and the possible site based on the last place of radio communication. “The chopper was 2,000 feet above ground,” said a Mumbai ATC official. According to N.K. Balakrishnan, CEO of United Helicharters, the helicopter was on a “repositioning” flight to Nagpur with a re-fuelling stopover at Aurangabad. “We are definitely saddened at the incident and the priority is to retrieve the bodies and hand them over to the families of the deceased,” Mr Balakrishnan said. A “repositioning” flight is undertaken by private aircraft charter companies where the aircraft is temporarily relocated to a place where the client — in this case a Nagpur-based company — is situated for the latter’s operational needs. The helicopter was piloted by Captain S.S. Bhaduria and his co-pilot Allen Martin. Another pilot, Retd Indian Air Force Commadore Anshu Matta was present along with two engineers identified as Yatin Wakade and Dean D’Souza.
