R Krishna Das
Raipur, May 13
Fate willed otherwise for the two pilots of the Chhattisgarh government who first gave a distress call but soon withdrew it before their chopper crashed at the airport Thursday night.
Captain Gopal Krishna Panda and Captain A P Shrivastava, who were piloting the AgustaWestland helicopter, died in the crash.
A team of investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the highest body under the ministry of civil aviation to probe aircraft accidents, reached Raipur today morning from New Delhi. They would be assisted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The preliminary investigation suggested that the chopper developed a sudden technical snag that did not give any room for the pilots to respond. The helicopter was on a training sortie; reportedly going for a circuit landing before taking a go-around of the airport.
Circuit training is the first stage of practical pilot training focused on take-offs and landings. It involves the pilot making approaches to the runway, touching down and then applying power to take off again.
During the practice, the pilots gave a distress call to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Raipur and requested “priority landing” following some technical problems. The emergency services at the airport were activated after getting the call. While the team was ready for the emergency landing, the chopper made an approach but did not land and went for a go-around.
The pilots informed the ATC that technical problems had been resolved and they were comfortable with the flying. After taking a circuit, the helicopter again made an approach but the crew were not lucky this time. Just minutes before landing, it developed a sudden snag, giving no chance to the pilots to control.
The emergency services of the airport were still in active mode and reached the site within minutes. Since the fire fighters were also on alert, the chopper could not catch fire.
But the impact of the crash was so severe that the medical team on standby could not save the two pilots.
