2 days after plane crash, another tragedy averted

Just two days after Andhra Pradesh was rocked by an air crash, authorities here went into frenzy this morning when a helicopter disappeared from the radar.

 

The helicopter, however, landed safely in the Huzurnagar town of Nalgonda district after three tension-filled hours.

 

Khammam district superintendent of police Anil Kumar confirmed that the chopper, which had gone off the radar near Khammam, had safely landed. "The Air Traffic Control in Hyderabad confirmed that this was the same helicopter that had gone missing," he said.

 

The helicopter, carrying four personnel of the National Mineral Development Corporation for an exploration

of minerals in Nalgonda and Khammam, had taken off from Hyderabad in the morning. With reports of the chopper going missing, police and revenue officials were put on alert in the three adjoining districts of Krishna, Khammam and Nalgonda.

 

Andhra Pradesh has been on the edge with regards to aviation accidents after two major crashes in the recent past. On Thursday, an Indian Navy aircraft crashed into a residential area of Hyderabad during an air show. Both pilots of the Kiran MK II aircraft were killed.

 

The state is also yet to fully recover from the helicopter crash in September last year, which killed the state Chief Minister, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, and four others.