President chopper accident: Clean chit to pilot

Bhubaneswar: Days after a chopper accident involving President Pratibha Patil, a preliminary enquiry report into the accident has blamed the ground staff; the pilot has been given a clean chit.

However, according to sources, the Air Headquarters might take different view when the report is submitted to them. The pilots may still be answerable for the mishap.

The President had a close shave after three blades of the helicopter ferrying the President, her husband Devisingh Shekhawat and Orissa Governor M C Bhandari back from Puri, hit asbestos shed at Bhubaneswar airport.

The blades of the 16-seater helicopter struck the shed, uprooting its asbestos roof; all the blades bent under the impact.