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    Flammable cargo may have caused Pawan Hans crash

    Synopsis

    While AAIB has asked BCAS to look into sabotage angle in the Pawan Hans chopper crash off Mumbai coast last week, the helicopter operator is working to ascertain the cargo that was being carried in the chopper.

    Pawan HansAgencies
    On January 13, 2018, a Pawan Hans helicopter off the coast of Mumbai crashed on a routine sortie to Bombay High killing all seven people on board, including 5 senior officials of ONGC Ltd.
    NEW DELHI: Accident investigation agencies as well as Pawan Hans suspect that the recent accident may have been caused by some flammable material in the cargo that was being carried in the aircraft.

    While Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has asked Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to look into sabotage angle in the Pawan Hans chopper crash off Mumbai coast last week, the state-owned helicopter operator is working to ascertain the cargo that was being carried in the chopper.

    “The reason behind the suspicion is the sudden decline in the altitude of the aircraft, which fell above 1100 feet in just six seconds, which is an indication that something happened to the aircraft suddenly,” said a government official, who did not want to be identified.

    Another official said that another reason pointing towards this angle is the fact that the bodies of pilots were not distorted, when they were retrieved.

    “In any helicopter incident, the body of the pilots are distorted but not of passengers. In this case, bodies of passengers were distorted, which indicates towards the fact that something happened in the passenger side, or the luggage that was being carried,” said another official.

    Both officials did not want to be identified because the investigations are currently on. Pawan Hans is also working internally to ascertain the cargo that was being carried in the helicopter.

    The second official explained that the helicopter — Dauphin 2 — is a fairly safe aircraft and has a built-in system to ensure that pilots are aware of any mechanical failure.

    “This aircraft has systems, where it can land in sea and float in case of any mechanical failure that the pilots would have known, as there are systems in the aircraft that alert pilots. There is no way the plane would have crashed due to a mechanical failure,” said the official.

    Something happened suddenly, which led to the crash, he said.

    On January 13, 2018, a Pawan Hans helicopter off the coast of Mumbai crashed on a routine sortie to Bombay High killing all seven people on board, including 5 senior officials of ONGC Ltd.



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