Helicopter scheduled to fly Pankaja Munde to Latur grounded after aircraft maintenance engineer spots technical snag

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A helicopter scheduled to ferry state environment minister Pankaja Munde from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Latur was grounded after an aircraft maintenance engineer spotted a technical snag, leading to the cancellation of the flight as a safety precaution.Munde, who was on a Marathwada tour to campaign for the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections, was scheduled to depart on Tuesday morning. However, the helicopter was grounded after the pilot updated the airport director of the technical issue spotted by the aircraft maintenance engineer. Munde later flew to Latur in another helicopter.Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar airport director Sharad Yeole told TOI, "Yesterday (Monday), the same chopper was in service of minister Pankaja Munde and took her to different places. At night, after parking it at the hangar, the pilot was informed of a technical snag. Accordingly, the minister's scheduled take-off for Tuesday in this chopper was called off. The communication was passed on to those concerned."Airport sources said the fault was detected during checks, after which standard safety protocol was followed, and the flight was cancelled.DGCA, in a statement, said: "On Monday, Agusta 109 Helicopter Registration VT-OSC of M/s Lakework Office Club Pvt. Ltd, was operating a flight with minister Pankaja Munde and others on board. The helicopter operated four sectors, and after the last landing at Aurangabad Airport, at approximately 1700 hrs, the aircraft maintenance engineer (AME), during post-flight checks, noticed ‘excessive play in the pitch operating link rod of one main rotor blade'. Consequently, the AME flagged the issue and did not release the helicopter for further flights pending rectification. As per the operator, the charter-indenting agency was informed at around 2000 hrs, and Tuesday's sorties were also cancelled at approximately 2100 hrs."Speaking to reporters after addressing an election rally at Kingaon in Latur district, Pankaja Munde said she was informed about the issue in the morning. "I do not know what exactly the fault was. When I was about to leave for the tour, I was informed that the helicopter would not be able to fly," she said.The technical snag led to a brief disruption in her schedule, but her office said alternative arrangements were made swiftly to avoid inconvenience to party workers and supporters.Asked about Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut raising questions over the death of Ajit Pawar, Munde said such issues should not be politicised. On whether the Ladki Bahin scheme should be named after Ajit Pawar, Munde said the decision would be taken by the chief minister. "We will support whatever decision the chief minister takes," she added.