New Delhi, January 20: Details of the investigation report into the crash of YSR Reddy’s helicopter, in which the then Andhra Pradesh chief minister was killed on September 2, 2009, emerged on Wednesday and ruled out any foul play behind the fatal accident.
The report prepared by a four-member committee, headed by RK Tyagi, MD of Pawan Hans Helicopters, reportedly says the crash in Nallamala forests occurred due to bad weather.
According to the report, which was submitted to the Civil Aviation Ministry last week, pilots had lost control of the chopper due to bad weather. They had in fact switched to auto-pilot mode moments before the chopper lost its way in blinding rain and crashed into a hill at high speed, the report adds.
Along with YSR, four others were killed in the government-owned twin-engined Bell 430 chopper crash in Nallamala forests on September 2, 2009. Among the other dead were YSR’s principal secretary K Subramanyam, chief security officer ASC Wesley, pilot group captain SK Bhatia and co pilot MS Reddy.
Many theories had emerged about the reason behind the crash, with some blaming the opposition for the incident. A local TV channel even blamed the Ambani brothers for getting the popular leader killed.
–Agencies