Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, had a miraculous escape while he was returning from a trip to Mahbubnagar district on Sunday when the new AW 139 helicopter developed a major technical fault mid-air.
The newly acquired Rs 64-crore AW 139 helicopter was on its first flight and everything appeared fine on the upward journey but when the CM, his special secretary K Prabhakara Reddy and Chief Security Officer Uday Kumar were returning by the chopper the electrical fuse suddenly started popping out.
Pilot Capt. M Jagan Mohan Raju tried to fix it and continued the flight.
After a few minutes, the electrical fuse popped out again but luckily did not cause any major trouble in the 20-minute flight journey, a top official of AP Aviation Corporation told PTI on condition of anonymity.
Neither the Chief Minister nor his aides were informed about this technical fault which expert say could have been disastrous.
The pilot the AP Aviation Corporation Authorities of the fault only this evening as it could not be fixed immediately.
The chopper will have to be grounded for the next few days and the Chief Minister's office has been asked to make alternate arrangements for his next trip to Nalgonda district on Wednesday, the official said.
The Chief Minister was originally scheduled to fly tomorrow to Adilabad district in the chopper which was imported from Italy on November 5.
The AP Aviation Corporation has outsourced the maintenance of the aircraft to OSS air, according to the sources.
Security agencies in the state have already expressed apprehensions about safety aspects of the new helicopter as it has not undertaken any test flights in India.
"We wanted the chopper to be flown in all districts of Andhra Pradesh at least for 25 hours to test its suitability in all conditions. Even the Chief Minister was told about this safety requirement but the authorities concerned simply ignored our plea," a senior offcial of the Chief Minister's Security Group said.
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