Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has decided to buy two new helicopters following a spate of accidents involving Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The State Cabinet on Thursday decided to purchase the copters: one for the CM and another to operate in the Naxal-hit areas. The Cabinet also decided to donate an outdated Dauphin helicopter to an education institution since it had reached a point of ‘no repair’.
The Chief Minister had a narrow escape in July after his chopper took off unexpectedly. In May, Mr. Fadnavis had another scare when a chopper carrying him crash-landed in Latur with him and the staff still on board. Following media reports, the civil aviation department of the State sought a report from the pilots.
The government had recently hired two private aviation firms after the State’s own fleet was left unused for over four years. The State had then clarified that it did not have resources to maintain the aircraft or could find suitable pilots for its own fleet.
The fleet consists of four crafts: a Sikorsky, Beechcraft Super King Air 350, Citation Excel, and a Dauphin copter. Two of these are grounded due to technical issues and the other two have been involved in a series of accidents.
“We have decided to buy new copters since the existing fleet is beyond repair. We are using a borrowed craft from Pavan Hans company for the Naxal-hit areas, which is bleeding our finances,” said a senior official.
A tender will be floated soon after technicalities are sorted out. “This puts us in a better position since at least we are not paying huge rents, and soon can have our own fleet,” said the official.