Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari were involved in another helicopter mishap as the pilot of the chopper they were travelling in pulled out of landing in the nick of time as he spotted cables in approach path. The incident took place in Bhayandar where the duo was headed for the bhoomi-poojan of Versova bridge.
Though the MD 900 landed safely, both Fadnavis and Gadkari chose to travel by road on their return. “After sighting the cables, the chopper pilot took precautions and made it clear that it would be difficult to take off unless a couple of people offloaded. The CM preferred to go by road,” Captain Sanjay Karve, director of Civil Aviation (Maharashtra) said.
Karve says it is normal for a pilot to choose to land at an alternative location and this should not be viewed as a close shave. However, a ground engineer at Bhayandar has been suspended for the incident.
This is fifth time that Fadnavis has been involved in a helicopter mishap or incidents that potentially endangered his life. The most serious incident was in May 2017, where the chopper crashed immediately after take-off.