Hyderabad:
Multiple agencies including the CBI, the DGCA, and the state police are set to probe how YSR's chopper went down on September 2. The family of the pilot who was flying the chopper is meanwhile living its most traumatic moments.
Capt S K Bhatia's family members are struggling not just to cope with his death. They are also fighting to save his name.
Ashwin Bhatia, S K Bhatia's son, says, "He had 25 years experience in this field, he had flown 10000 hours and that was incident-free flying. He had never made an error. He was the safest pilots flying and he made sure to take all safety precautions, every time he flew."
The son's defense comes even as fingers are being pointed at the pilot of YSR's chopper that crashed atop Kurnool's hills last Wednesday. The Crisis Management Committee headed by AP's chief secretary insists that the chopper was well-maintained and was checked before it took off on September 2. Also that satisfactory security was provided to the chopper at Begumpet airport.
As against reports that the pilot refused to undergo the mandatory medical check before flying, the note says both pilots were checked by a doctor that morning and declared medically fit. The note also says the Met department located on the first floor of this old Hyderabad airport had briefed the pilots on the weather forecast. The suggestion seems to be that the decision to fly despite inclement weather was entirely that of the pilots.
"How it happened, are there any lapses, should be investigated and it should be informed to every citizen of this country," says Raghuveera Reddy, Cabinet minister, AP.
The chopper's Emergency Locator Transmitter or ELT, which is meant to emit signals when a chopper crashes, has also been retrieved but why it did not emit any signals is not known yet.