Private chopper missing in the hills near Mumbai

A helicopter belonging to a private company went missing while on a Mumbai-Aurangabad flight near here early Sunday, officials said.

The chopper is reportedly carrying at least five passengers. It took off from Juhu airport around 7.45 Sunday morning, and was scheduled to reach Aurangabad at 9.30 a.m.

A police official in Thane, a district town adjoining Mumbai, said a search party is being organised to trace the chopper in the remote and inaccessible hills near Murbad, where it is feared to have crashed.