EC120 down in India?
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Cool as a moosp
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From: Mostly Hong Kong
EC120 down in India?
Heard a rumour that an EC120 had gone down in India, with loss of life. Does anyone have any more information?
My interest is that of an EC120 operator, that is all.
My interest is that of an EC120 operator, that is all.
Joined: Apr 2005
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From: far east
Speaking to an indian mate tonight, to his knowledge c3POB incl. an indian minister and a wealthy local business tycoon. There were fatalities, unsure how many and the a/c was operated by the government............apparent engine failure
Joined: Mar 2000
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From: UK
Pakistan Times report
Two Indian provincial ministers, Pilot killed in air crash
NEW DELHI (India):
NEW DELHI (India):
A pilot and two provincial ministers, one of them a billionaire industrialist, were killed on Thursday when their helicopter crashed in a village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, police said.
Two others on board the seven-seat private executive helicopter were injured in the crash in the village of Gangoh, police superintendent S. A. Rizvi said, adding that one of them was in critical condition.
Haryana state power minister Om Prakash Jindal ¡ª head of the $2.2-billion steel manufacturing Jindal group ¡ª his colleague, agriculture minister Surinder Singh, and the pilot died instantly when the French-made aircraft crashed after a mid-air engine failure, officials said.
Survivor Ved Goyal, a relative of Jindal, later told private television networks that the New Delhi-bound aircraft came down moments after its engine failed some 30 minutes after taking off from the Harayana state capital of Chandigarh.
Two others on board the seven-seat private executive helicopter were injured in the crash in the village of Gangoh, police superintendent S. A. Rizvi said, adding that one of them was in critical condition.
Haryana state power minister Om Prakash Jindal ¡ª head of the $2.2-billion steel manufacturing Jindal group ¡ª his colleague, agriculture minister Surinder Singh, and the pilot died instantly when the French-made aircraft crashed after a mid-air engine failure, officials said.
Survivor Ved Goyal, a relative of Jindal, later told private television networks that the New Delhi-bound aircraft came down moments after its engine failed some 30 minutes after taking off from the Harayana state capital of Chandigarh.
EC 120
Joined: Mar 2000
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From: UK
The Hindu
"report when he was 15 metres out of Sarsawa" ?
Copter crash: DGCA orders enquiry
NEW DELHI.
NEW DELHI.
The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered an enquiry into the helicopter crash that took place near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh today in which three persons, including two Haryana Ministers were killed.
The Joint Director in the DGCA, P.K. Chattopadhyay, has been appointed the Inspector of Accidents to head the enquiry, official sources said.
The ill-fated helicopter, VTVYJ type B-120, of India Flying Safe Aviation Limited (Jindal Group) took off from Chandigarh at 11.32 a.m. and landed at Rajinder Park helipad to pick its passengers en route Delhi. It reported over Sarswa Air Traffic Control near Saharanpur at 12.17 noon.
ATC asked the copter to report when he was 15 metres out of Sarsawa, after which the copter lost contact. The crash site is reported to be 25 km from tehsil Nakud.
The pilot was Col. T.S. Chauhan who had been checked and certified by Eurocopter in December 2004.
The Joint Director in the DGCA, P.K. Chattopadhyay, has been appointed the Inspector of Accidents to head the enquiry, official sources said.
The ill-fated helicopter, VTVYJ type B-120, of India Flying Safe Aviation Limited (Jindal Group) took off from Chandigarh at 11.32 a.m. and landed at Rajinder Park helipad to pick its passengers en route Delhi. It reported over Sarswa Air Traffic Control near Saharanpur at 12.17 noon.
ATC asked the copter to report when he was 15 metres out of Sarsawa, after which the copter lost contact. The crash site is reported to be 25 km from tehsil Nakud.
The pilot was Col. T.S. Chauhan who had been checked and certified by Eurocopter in December 2004.
SAHARANPUR (UTTAR PRADESH).
The Haryana Agriculture Minister, Surender Singh, 59, and his Cabinet colleague and industrialist, O.P. Jindal, 75, were killed this afternoon when their helicopter crashed near Mehnge village here. They were on their way from Chandigarh to New Delhi.
Mr. Surender Singh is the son of the former Chief Minister, Bansi Lal. Mr. Jindal, father of Naveen Jindal, Congress MP, held the Power portfolio.
The pilot, P. S. Chauhan, was alive when the villagers reached the crash site, but died later. The other two occupants of the French-made Euro King helicopter — Haryana MLA Ved Goyal, and Mr. Jindal's Personal Security Officer, Vinod Kumar — miraculously survived with leg and back injuries. They were admitted to hospital here.
The helicopter, with the call sign of VTVYJ had been one of two bought by Mr. Jindal six months ago and had been used extensively in the last Haryana Assembly elections. It had lifted off from Chandigarh around noon. It crashed 35 minutes later after apparently developing a technical snag. An eyewitness, Sukhdev Singh, who was working on the fields when the chopper crashed less than 100 metres from him, said: "The helicopter from which a strange sound was emanating had first flown past Mehnge village. However, it soon returned wobbling in the air and hovered around a bit as the pilot was apparently looking for a wet field to land on. But then it just crashed on the field where peasants were cutting wheat."
Mr. Singh said on hitting the ground, the helicopter first went up 20 feet in the air before coming down on its left side.
"Since the chopper had not caught fire, villagers immediately rushed to it and pulled out all the five persons. Mr. Jindal and Mr. Singh were already dead," he said.
The last rites of Mr. Singh and Mr. Jindal will be held with full state honours in Bhiwani and Hissar. The Haryana Government has declared a three-day State mourning. The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has instituted an inquiry into the crash, the Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, said in New Delhi.
Mr. Surender Singh is the son of the former Chief Minister, Bansi Lal. Mr. Jindal, father of Naveen Jindal, Congress MP, held the Power portfolio.
The pilot, P. S. Chauhan, was alive when the villagers reached the crash site, but died later. The other two occupants of the French-made Euro King helicopter — Haryana MLA Ved Goyal, and Mr. Jindal's Personal Security Officer, Vinod Kumar — miraculously survived with leg and back injuries. They were admitted to hospital here.
The helicopter, with the call sign of VTVYJ had been one of two bought by Mr. Jindal six months ago and had been used extensively in the last Haryana Assembly elections. It had lifted off from Chandigarh around noon. It crashed 35 minutes later after apparently developing a technical snag. An eyewitness, Sukhdev Singh, who was working on the fields when the chopper crashed less than 100 metres from him, said: "The helicopter from which a strange sound was emanating had first flown past Mehnge village. However, it soon returned wobbling in the air and hovered around a bit as the pilot was apparently looking for a wet field to land on. But then it just crashed on the field where peasants were cutting wheat."
Mr. Singh said on hitting the ground, the helicopter first went up 20 feet in the air before coming down on its left side.
"Since the chopper had not caught fire, villagers immediately rushed to it and pulled out all the five persons. Mr. Jindal and Mr. Singh were already dead," he said.
The last rites of Mr. Singh and Mr. Jindal will be held with full state honours in Bhiwani and Hissar. The Haryana Government has declared a three-day State mourning. The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has instituted an inquiry into the crash, the Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, said in New Delhi.
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 542
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From: Europe
From this last report doesn't sound like a simple engine failure and of course reports of strange sounds are notoriously unreliable. From the wreckage doesn't actually look like a particularly high energy accident which maybe fits with reported "hovering looking to land" story. With no fire too, it shouldn't be too hard to identify cause, one hopes. Very sad.
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: Australia
Looks like the tail is somewhat missing!...with some damage done to the right front skid. Pilots door seems to be damaged with the MR Blades still in reasonable shape considering an impact. maybe an overpitching stall related occurence???... im sure the verdict will come out soon. condolences to the families of the crew and pax 
Joined: Sep 2002
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From: Planet Earth
VTVYJ = REGISTRATION DOES NOT EXIST
guesstimating this is the one:
Name Manuf. Sr. No. AUW Class Owner Operator
VT-JPL EUROCOPTER EC130 3802 2427 H INDIA FLYSAFE AVIATION LIMITED INDIA FLYSAFE AVIATION LTD.
an other newspaper was talking about EC130 as well
Name Manuf. Sr. No. AUW Class Owner Operator
VT-JPL EUROCOPTER EC130 3802 2427 H INDIA FLYSAFE AVIATION LIMITED INDIA FLYSAFE AVIATION LTD.
an other newspaper was talking about EC130 as well
Last edited by Sensible Garage; 2nd April 2005 at 13:15.
