YSR crash report embarrasses government

New Delhi, Hyderabad: His own government may have been indirectly responsible for the helicopter crash that killed YS Reddy and four others in September last year.

A committee appointed by the government to investigate the crash says the Bell-430 helicopter used by YSR was not in great working condition, and should not have been allowed to fly. The committee, consisting of civil aviation experts, states that:

• The helicopter's transmitter was not working, making it harder to locate the chopper after it crashed
• For six minutes before the crash, the pilot and co-pilot were distracted as they searched a manual to help them with a technical problem
• The torrential rain that day in the Nallamalla Hills where the helicopter was flying made matters worse
• The staff in charge of maintaining the helicopter didn't follow the rules specified in the helicopter's quality control manual
  

The report indicts the government and senior officials of the state aviation corporation, stating that they "lacked the knowledge of aviation-related issues."

Perhaps whoever was heading the Aviation Corporation should have had more technical help from the DGCA. He should have asked for more help or both should have coordinated to make sure the maintenance and pilots performance etc should be done the right way,'' says Geeta Reddy, a minister in the state government.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has refused to comment on the findings of the committee.