Pilot error cause of YSR helicopter crash, says probe report

NEW DELHI: The helicopter crash which claimed the life of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S R Reddy was caused by the error of pilots who lost control over the chopper and were engrossed for vital six minutes trying to locate a flight manual, the probe report said today. The report, submitted to the government by the four- member inquirycommittee, said the "probable" cause of the accident was that it "occurred dueto loss of control resulting in uncontrolled descent in the terrain at a veryhigh rate of descent due to entry into severe down draught". Thecrew flew the helicopter under the instrument flying condition even though theirflight plan was cleared for Visual Flight Rules (VFR), it said. Thecrew noticed a snag and "was engrossed for vital six minutes before the impactin searching for the relevant checklist from the Flight Manual"."This distracted their attention from the prevailing poor visibilityweather conditions thus leading into the loss of situational awareness," thereport, prepared by the Committee headed by Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited chiefS K Tyagi, said. Reddy, his special secretary P Subramaniam, ChiefSecurity Officer ASC Weseley, and the two pilots Grp Capt S K Bhatia and Capt MS Reddy, were killed when the Bell 430 helicopter of the state governmentcrashed in dense jungles of Nalamalla hills on September two last year.