Pune: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday ordered an inquiry to determine how a helicopter with cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal on board missed the helipad and landed on an open ground designated for parking vehicles at Khanwadi village of Pune district’s Purandar tehsil.Bhujbal came to the village, about 40km from the city, to participate in the bicentenary birth anniversaryof social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar also were present at the event.According to police, only the helicopter carrying Bhujbal strayed to the open parking space around 11am. Helicopters of all other politicians landed on the designated helipad. Confirming the incident, Bhujbal told reporters, “The pilot failed to spot the helipad and ended up landing on an open area. There was no accident.”Responding to a question on the straying of Bhujbal’s helicopter, chief minister Fadnavis said, “I was not aware of the incident. The govt will carry out a detailed inquiry.”Some villagers recorded the landing of the helicopter on their cellphones anduploaded clippings on social media. The videos on social media showed formation of a dust storm when the helicopter was landing. Some overhead wires and trees could be seen around the open area, where some vehicles parked, in the video as the helicopter landed in Khanwadi.As videos surfaced on social media, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar posted on his ‘X’ handle,”The helicopter carrying a senior politician like Bhujbal landing on a parking space instead of a helipad is a serious incident. I have been constantly saying that extra precaution should be taken by the VIPs while traveling. There are some lacunae in terms of maintenance of aircraft and helicopters.”He wrote, “Fortunately there was no untoward incident but the govt should not be so careless. We hope that the govt will take precautionary measures to ensure safe travel in aircraft and helicopters.” Rohit has been repeatedly demanding a fair probe into the Jan 28 plane crash in Baramati in which his uncle, former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, died with four others.Going by the visuals, aviation experts termed the helicopter’s landing on a parking space “risky”. Group Captain Nikhil Purandare (retd), said, “Amid poor visibility and dust, the landing should have been aborted. The pilot had the options to go around, coordinate watering, or divert to a nearby helipad.”(With Inputs from Sandip Dighe)
