M A I N   N E W S

providential Escape
Chopper was just about to fly Kalia
Naveen S Garewal/TNS

Chandigarh, December 16
Punjab’s Industries and Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia had a miraculous escape as the today’s chopper crash at the Chandigarh airport took place just minutes before he was to board it. It was his first day of looking after the work of the state’s Chief Minister.

The Punjab Chief Minister and his deputy are out of the country and in order to cope with the busy schedule, Kalia had ordered that he be ferried to Mukerian, Hoshiarpur and back. Kalia had to leave Chandigarh by road at 7.30 am to lay the foundation stone of the municipal committee building at Mukerian in Hoshiarpur district. From there, he was scheduled to go to Hoshiarpur to announce the upgrading of the infrastructure facilities at the focal point there. However, he got overburdened with work usually overseen by the Chief Minister or his deputy, so he asked to be ferried by the state’s chopper leased from Pawan Hans.

The chopper was to pick up the minister from Rajindra Park, in front of his house, at 10 so that he could keep his schedule at Mukerian and Hoshiarpur. However, just after the Dauphin AS365-N3 seven-seater, twin-engine helicopter took off from the Chandigarh airport after being re-fuelled, it crashed. The two pilots escaped with minor injuries.

The chopper had returned to Chandigarh from Delhi after dropping Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who left for an overseas visit. The accident delayed Kalia’s departure and he had to finally leave by road at 10 after hearing the news.

“We were to take off at 10 am. As I was heading for the helipad, I got the message that the helicopter had crashed,” Kalia said. CM Parkash Singh Badal, his son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, Punjab Governor and several senior officials have been using this chopper extensively for travelling both within and outside the state.

Civil aviation officials said, “It is only fortunate that the aircraft was only around seven feet above the ground and did not have any VIP on board”.

Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal had escaped unhurt earlier this year when his Bell 230 helicopter, leased to the Punjab Government, hit the branches of some trees while landing. Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also survived two accidents - one in Gurdaspur district where the chopper fell immediately after the take-off and another at Pinjore, 20 km from Chandigarh, where the helicopter had to make an emergency landing in a school ground.

On October 29, 2008, Punjab Government’s C-9 King Air aircraft had crashed near Jugiana village in Ludhiana district, killing pilots Manjeet Khokhar and Daleep Kataria. Since then, Punjab has been leasing aircraft for its VIPs.