Hyderabad, September 2
As anxiety grips Andhra Pradesh over the fate of Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy, several questions are being raised over the air-worthiness of his helicopter that went missing over the Maoist-infested Nallamala forest area.
Experts have pointed out that the seven-seater Bell 430 chopper, carrying the Chief Minister and two other officials, is old and outdated.
Manufactured in 1998, it was bought by the government in June 1999. It has now emerged that the chopper’s air-worthy certificate has not been renewed for the past two years.
As per the aviation rules, the helicopters need to be checked and certified once every year.
The helicopter took off at the airport here at 8.30 am for Chittoor but lost radio contact at 9.30 am while flying over the Nallamala forest area.
It was strange that none of the officers on board was carrying a satellite phone which could have come in handy to contact the administration in an emergency situation.
“There was no satellite phone in the chopper carrying the Chief Minister,” the Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy said.
Meanwhile, five battalions of CRPF personnel have chipped in to assist the state police in the search operations.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the civil aviation regulator which also provides licenses to aircraft and their operators, said the required licenses of the chopper were renewed on a regular basis.
