Watch: Fadnavis’ Helicopter Crashlands in Latur; CM Escapes Unhurt

After the mishap, Fadnavis posted on Twitter saying he and his team are “absolutely safe”.

The helicopter carrying Devendra Fadnavis crash-landed in Latur on Thursday. (Photo: ANI/The Quint)

A helicopter carrying Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis crash-landed in Latur on Thursday, but he escaped uninjured.

Watch the video of the helicopter crash-landing:

After the mishap, Fadnavis tweeted saying he and his team are "absolutely safe".

Describing the sequence of events, the pilot of the helicopter said:

Took off from helipad at 12, wind speed then was high. Later when we initiated, wind speed reduced. Helicopter then started coming down, there was a high tension cable there, we tried avoiding it but by then helicopter had touched it.

Helicopter pilot

The helicopter carrying Devendra Fadnavis crash-landed in Latur on Thursday. (Photo: ANI/The Quint)

The helicopter carrying Devendra Fadnavis crash-landed in Latur on Thursday. (Photo: ANI/The Quint)

According to Fadnavis, the US-made Sikorsky helicopter, developed a technical problem, because of which it had to make a landing, reported NDTV. However, during the landing procedure, it got entangled in wires which led to the mishap.

Sources in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation were quoted by NDTV as saying:

After take-off, the pilot found variable wind pattern and decided to land. During landing, the helicopter got entangled in wires. The helicopter has sustained substanial damage.

Sources, Directorate General of Civil Aviation

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu, Health Minister JP Nadda and Mumbai Congress Committee President Sanjay Nirupam tweeted after the incident:

Last week too, Fadnavis could not board a helicopter during a visit to the Gadchiroli district as it had developed a technical snag. The Chief Minister was compelled to travel by road to Nagpur.

(With inputs from ANI)