2 Pilots, Engineer Dead as Helicopter Crashes in Hilly Area in Pune

Pune: A helicopter crashed near Bavdhan in Pune district in Maharashtra shortly after take-off on Wednesday, killing three people onboard. The deceased include two pilots and an engineer.

According to sources, the helicopter crashed and went into flames after covering a distance of 1.5km after taking off from the helipad located near Oxford Golf Course. It was not immediately clear whether it was a government or a private chopper. 

"Two people feared dead in a helicopter crash near Bavdhan in Pune district, an official of Pimpri Chinchwad Police said earlier in the day. 

The incident was reported between 6.30am and 6.45am this morning. The helicopter crashed after taking off from Oxford Golf Club's helipad. It is believed that the helicopter could have crashed due to dense fog in the area. Soon after the mishap occurred, villagers alerted the Hinjewadi police control room that three people suffered severe injuries.

Visuals have emerged from the site which shows massive wreckage and tall flames. Acting swiftly, police and medical teams rushed to the site. The two deceased pilots have been identified as Paramjit Singh and G K Pillai while the engineer as Pritam Bharadwaj. 

Speaking to news agency ANI, Chief Fire Officer Devendra Prabhakar Potphode said, "...We got the information that there is a chopper crash very close to Oxford helipad. Our fire teams from the nearest fire stations responded...We also summoned PMRDA fire department and MIDC. We sent 4 fire vehicles along with 2 rescue vehicles...When we reached the spot, we saw that the chopper had crashed and all its parts had scattered. There was a smouldering fire. We were able to extract 3 casualties and these were handed over to Police...Initially we got the information that it is the chopper of some Heritage Aviation Company. Other information is yet to be ascertained."

A rescue operation is underway. More details are awaited.