Helicopter came down less than 30 seconds after take-off. Video shows a sudden spark 41 seconds after take-off on a very low climb-out (which could suggest it hit wires), and the helicopter descended quickly from there. 4 POB including the Chief Minister of the State of Maharashtra, but no significant injuries. The helicopter did not gain any significant height between take-off and impacting the wires.
Thge official line from the state press dept is > ”The pilot decided on an emergency landing within 2 minutes of take-off. The helicopter didn’t crash-land, but got caught in wires while landing. We experienced sudden jerks, but no one suffered any injury. The CM has called for a detailed probe into the incident,’’ said Ketan Pathak, officer on special-duty (OSD) with the Chief Minister’s Office.
This report states air temperature was 45C. The “brown out” from blown up earth/dust could be contributory – one suggestion was that the helipad had not been sufficiently watered and thus the dust cloud greater than it could have been.
