YSR’s helicopter crashed owing to low altitude, initial evidence shows

Initial evidence collected by the investigating team of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suggests that the helicopter in which Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) flew crashed mainly because of a dangerous drop in altitude to about 1,200 feet from the designated 5,500 feet. Dr Reddy and four other people of his entourage died when their Bell-430 helicopter crashed on a hillock in the dense Nallamala forests on September 2, 2009.

The investigating team, led by R K Tyagi, Additional Director-General of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation, also found that that the helicopter was in fact flying on its original flight path and had not deviated before crashing in the Nallamala forest, a section of the media reported, quoting official sources.

It was earlier assumed that the helicopter had deviated from its assigned flight path. A day after the incident, Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy had said that YSR’s helicopter deviated 18 kilometres from its original flight path towards the east, then hit the cliff of a hill at Pavuralagutta before crashing.

The investigations by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation, however, found that the helicopter was very much on its course, but was flying at a much lower altitude than it should have flown.

According to reports, officials of the Andhra Pradesh Aviation Corporation Limited told the investigating team of the DGCA that, based on the coordinates of the helicopter’s flight, they believe that the aircraft had not deviated from its original path.

A mapping the DGCA team did on the site of the crash also showed that the helicopter had not strayed from its course as was initially suspected, the reports quoted official sources as saying.

The Chief Minister’s helicopter was permitted to fly at an altitude of 5,500 feet. However, by the time the helicopter reached Atmakuru area, it descended to a height of as low as 1,200 feet – the same height of the Pavuralagutta hillock.

And, this was probably the cause of the accident, the officials of the Andhra Pradesh Aviation Corporation Limited informed the investigators of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation.

The investigating team of the DGCA, according to reports, held detailed discussions with the officials of the Andhra Pradesh Aviation Corporation Limited on various aspects of the ill-fated flight.

The DGCA team also examined the detailed flight schedule, the flight engineer’s report, the pilots’ fitness reports, and the weather reports.

The DGCA investigators were told that the Chief Minister’s “exact programme” was disclosed only at about 6.30 a.m. on September 2, 2009, since the visit was supposed to be a surprise one.

Group Captain S K Bhatia, the pilot-in-command of the Chief Minister’s helicopter, was only informed about “a flight to Chittoor district and nothing more,” the official sources said.