Bell-430 crash: A pure accident, say experts

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Stormy weather was the only reason that resulted in the crash of the Bell-430 helicopter of the Andhra Pradesh government in which the then Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others were killed in the dense Nallamala forest ranges on September 2, 2009, a two-member expert committee appointed by the state government to probe into the incident has established.
“There is evidence to show that the helicopter got into bad weather and it was coming down with great force because of the down draft (wind going down in great speed vertically). The pilots tried to lift the helicopter but in the process, unfortunately, it hit the tree,” the committee members H S Khola and M R Reddy said in a 110-page report submitted to Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
On the weather analysis, the experts said, the helicopter in the final stages was in a “severe down draft” where the rate of descent was very high. The pilot could not lift off and the chopper impacted with the ground because of this.
“Except that there is no evidence of anything,” Khola, a former Director General of Civil Aviation, and Reddy, a former director of Special Protection Group, said after submitting the report.
“From the evidence which is on record, there is no evidence except to say that the helicopter got into this weather that resulted in the crash,” they asserted when asked about the possible sabotage.
“When we look into the causes of the accident, naturally we have to look into sabotage as well. But the Central Bureau of Investigation is inquiring into it in great detail into all aspects of sabotage. Very soon I think they will also come out with a report,” Reddy, a retired IPS officer and expert in VIP security, said.
Replying to a question, Khola said an analysis of the twin engines of the Bell-430 chopper revealed that they were running at full RPM. “As such there was no failure of the engines,” he pointed out.
To another question, Reddy said transcripts obtained from the Air Traffic Controls at Chennai, Shamshabad and Begumpet, as well as the contents of the Cockpit Voice Recorder decoded in Canada, indicated that there was no talk between the Chief Minister or any other passenger with the helicopter crew. “There was no other talk, no other thing recorded. We looked into what is on record and we also know that the record is not tampered,” he observed.
Noting that the helicopter pilot Group Captain S K Bhatia was “very experienced,” Reddy said the former had followed all the correct procedures.
“He himself went to the Met office at Begumpet and took the detailed ‘Met Briefing’ prior to the flight. The weather report contained in detail the visibility, beam, temperature and wind speeds at different heights. It not only had current data but also the forecast for the next couple of hours (on that day),” Reddy pointed out.
“In fact, they had waited for an hour for the weather to clear. If the weather wasn’t clear, the ATC would not have allowed the chopper to take off. But en route if he (pilot) had encountered weather which was more severe than what the Met office said, that was the time he should have decided whether he should come back or go forward. We can’t say it’s an error of judgment on part of the pilot,” Reddy noted.
Capt Gurmeet Singh, a former instructor-pilot with the Indian Army and known for his expertise in weather, also assisted the expert committee as a “co-opted member.”