Pune Helicopter Crash: Sunil Tatkare Narrowly Escapes Death; Was Set to Board Ill Fated Aircraft

On Wednesday morning, a helicopter crashed near Bavdhan in Pune, resulting in the deaths of three individuals. Disturbing new details have emerged regarding the incident. The ill-fated helicopter was en route from Pune to Mumbai and was scheduled to pick up Sunil Tatkare, a Member of Parliament and State President of the Nationalist Congress Party, before returning to Pune. The helicopter took off from the Oxford Golf Club helipad early in the morning but encountered difficulties shortly after takeoff. 

Owned by Heritage Aviation, the helicopter was headed toward Juhu in Mumbai. Sunil Tatkare had traveled in this twin-engine Augusta helicopter the previous day and had flown from Pune to Parli. After attending a meeting with Amit Shah in Mumbai, Tatkare was set to return to Pune and later fly to Sutarwadi in Raigad in the same helicopter. The crash occurred around 6:45 AM near Bavdhan Budruk, leading to the fatalities of the three individuals on board—two pilots and one engineer. The deceased pilots have been identified as Captain Pillai and Captain Paramjeet Singh, while the engineer was Pritam Bhardwaj. According to Vinay Kumar Chaubey, the Police Commissioner of Pimpri Chinchwad, police teams and fire department vehicles arrived promptly at the scene.

Authorities reported that a technical malfunction in the helicopter's engine likely caused an immediate fire, which may have led to the explosion of the aircraft. The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation. Two ambulances and four fire brigade vehicles were dispatched to the site. Poor weather conditions and low visibility are suspected to have contributed to the helicopter’s crash while navigating through mountainous terrain. The bodies of the victims are expected to be transported to Sassoon General Hospital in Pune.