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A technical snag was detected in a helicopter hours before it was scheduled to transport Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde for campaigning for the Zilla Parishad polls in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, an airport official said on Tuesday. The snag was found late on Monday night hours before the BJP leader was to fly to Latur, he said. According to officials, Munde arrived in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on a chartered plane on Monday and took the helicopter for poll campaigning later in the day. However, when the aviation company conducted a routine inspection later that night, they found some technical issues with the chopper and informed the authorities at the Chikalthana airport, they said. The chopper was scheduled to transport the BJP leader to Latur around 11 am on Tuesday, but her journey was delayed by two hours, the official said. Talking to reporters, Munde said that the helicopter was old, but she didn't raise the issue and continued her travel. She said ever since NCP leade
Adani Group and Italian major Leonardo on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership to establish an integrated helicopter manufacturing ecosystem in India. The move will be a significant boost for the 'Make In India' efforts and to make the country more self-reliant. The manufacturing ecosystem will look to address military demands and boost India's self-reliance in helicopter production. Adani Defence & Aerospace and Leonardo on Tuesday inked a Memorandum of Understanding for the partnership at an event in the national capital. The partnership will target the Indian Armed Forces' requirements, particularly for Leonardo's advanced AW169M and AW109 TrekkerM helicopters. "The collaboration will deliver phased indigenization, robust maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capabilities, and comprehensive pilot training," a release said. India has a low helicopter penetration density of less than 250 helicopters for the country's population, and the country will need around 100 ...
Aviation tech firm Nalwa Aero on Thursday said it has signed an initial pact with helicopter operators Global Vectra Helicorp, Pawan Hans Ltd and Himalayan Heli Services to launch electric air taxi (eVTOL) services, offering fares as low as Rs 200 per passenger on select routes. As part of this strategic collaboration, signed at the ongoing Wings India aviation show in Hyderabad, Himalaya Heli Services has placed pre-orders for Nalwa's upcoming eVTOL aircraft, a statement said. The partners plan to deploy eVTOL aircraft for pilgrimage travel, including Char Dham Yatra routes, air ambulance services, urban and intercity air taxi operations, and offshore crew and logistics transport, Nalwa Aero said. According to the company, electric propulsion promises lower operating costs, reduced noise levels, and zero in-flight emissions, enabling operators to expand services into routes previously constrained by conventional helicopter economics. The quieter footprint is especially valuable for
Airbus has awarded a contract to Mahindra Aerostructures to manufacture the main fuselage of the H125 helicopters as the aerospace major boosts its Make In India efforts. The latest development comes less than five months after the company awarded the contract to Mahindra Aerostructures Pvt Ltd (MASPL) for manufacturing the main fuselage for H130 helicopters in April. "The production contracts for the H125 and H130 aerostructures to MASPL firmly integrate India into Airbus Helicopters' global value chain, strengthening the country's 'Make in India' initiative," Airbus said in a release on Thursday. Airbus Helicopters has awarded MASPL, as an additional source, the contract to manufacture the main fuselage of the H125 helicopters and the industrialisation will begin immediately at the MASPL facility in Bengaluru, with the first fuselage delivery targeted for 2027, the release said. Financial details were not disclosed. The H125 is one of the world's best-selling single-engine ...
A car bomb and a separate attack on a police helicopter in Colombia killed at least 17 people Thursday, according to authorities. President Gustavo Petro attributed both attacks to dissidents of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, commonly known as FARC. At least 12 police officers died in the attack on a helicopter that according to authorities was transporting personnel to an area in Antioquia in northern Colombia, to eradicate coca leaf crops, the raw material for cocaine. Petro had reported initially eight officers killed, but Antioquia Gov. Andrs Julin said four others died later and three remain injured. The Antioquia governor had said on X that a drone attacked the helicopter as it flew over coca leaf crops. Colombian Defence Minister Pedro Snchez said preliminary information indicates the attack caused a fire in the aircraft. Meanwhile, authorities in the southwest city of Cali reported that a vehicle loaded with explosives detonated near a military aviation
Helicopter crashes or emergency landings are occurring at an alarming frequency on the Char Dham Yatra route in Uttarakhand, causing concern among people and the administration. The latest crash of an Aryan Aviation Pvt Ltd chopper returning from Kedarnath near Guptkashi on Sunday morning, which killed all seven people on board, is the fifth mishap involving a helicopter on the pilgrimage route this year. A Kestrel Aviation helicopter en route Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district on June 7 after developing a technical snag shortly after take-off. It made a hard landing on the road close to populated buildings, with its tail rotor hitting a parked car. All pilgrims on board, as well as the pilot, escaped narrowly. The hard landing of the helicopter came about a month after another private chopper on its way to Gangotri temple crashed near Gangnani in Uttarkashi district on May 8, killing six people, including five women and the pilot, and leavin
The Army is pausing helicopter flights near a Washington airport after two commercial planes had to abort landings last week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon. The commander of the 12th Aviation Battalion directed the unit to pause helicopter flight operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following Thursday's close calls, two Army officials confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday. One official said the flights have been paused since Friday. The pause comes after 67 people died in January when a passenger jet collided in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter at Reagan airport. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not publicly announced. The unit is continuing to fly in the greater Washington, D.C., region. The unit had begun a return to flight within the last week, with plans to gradually increase the number of flights over the next four weeks, according to an Army document viewed
The Army has allowed the resumption of limited flying by Advanced Light Helicopters Dhruv in view of the Pahalgam terror attack, people familiar with the matter have said. The entire fleet of over 330 Dhruv helicopters operated by the Army, Navy, the Air Force and the Coast Guard was grounded in early January following the crash of one of the choppers. The Army has allowed limited flying by ALH Dhruv to help in counter-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir, the people cited above said on Wednesday. A Dhruv helicopter of the Coast Guard crashed at the Porbandar airport runway in Gujarat on January 5. Two pilots and an aircrew diver of the helicopter were killed in the incident. The indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv)) is a twin-engine, multi-role, multi-mission new-generation helicopter in the 5.5-tonne weight class. More than 340 Dhruv helicopters have been produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd so far.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer is calling on federal authorities to revoke the operating permits of the helicopter tour company whose sightseeing chopper broke apart in midair and plunged into the Hudson River Thursday, killing a family of five visiting from Spain and the pilot, a Navy SEAL veteran. At a press conference Sunday, Schumer said the company, New York Helicopter Tours, should be required to halt all flights as the National Transportation Safety Board investigates the deadly crash. The Senate Democrat minority leader also called on the Federal Aviation Administration to ramp up safety inspections for other helicopter tour companies, accusing them of cutting corners and putting profits over people. The victims included passengers Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife, Merc Camprub Montal, 39, and their three children, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a US Navy veteran who received his commercial pilot's license in 2023. One of the things w
A helicopter ride giving a thrilling sweep of Manhattan's iconic skyline has long been on the to-do list for New York City tourists of means. For several hundred dollars, tour companies fly passengers high above the rivers that encircle the city, showcasing a stunning, bird's-eye view of the Statue of Liberty, One World Trade Centre and other monumental landmarks. But Thursday's crash that killed a family of five visiting from Spain and the helicopter's pilot, a Navy SEAL veteran, has renewed concerns about the safety of the popular sightseeing excursions. Since 2005, five helicopters on commercial sightseeing flights have fallen into the Hudson and East rivers as a result of mechanical failures, pilot errors or collisions, killing 20 people. Longtime opponents have revived calls to ban or limit nonessential helicopter flights, including the roughly 30,000 sightseeing rides over the city each year. Mayor against more restrictions Mayor Eric Adams on Friday said he doesn't support
A medical transport helicopter crashed in Mississippi on Monday, killing a pilot and two hospital workers on board, officials said. A spokesperson for the University of Mississippi Medical Center confirmed the deaths of everyone on board the flight. The AirCare copter was not carrying any patients when it crashed in Madison County, north of the capital of Jackson, the university said in an earlier statement. Families of the three victims were notified, but authorities didn't release names to protect privacy. The university did not offer a reason for the crash. Television station WAPT reported that authorities from the Federal Aviation Administration were en route. It's a tragic reminder of the risks Mississippi's first responders take every day to keep us safe, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said on Facebook. Our state will never forget the sacrifice of these heroes.
A senior Indian Coast Guard official has called for design re-evaluations of the Advanced Light Helicopter after one of the military choppers of the maritime security agency crashed in Gujarat earlier this month, killing three. ICG Inspector General and Regional Commander (West) Bhisham Sharma said on Thursday that ALH has been in the service for the past 20 years and the Coast Guard has the Mark III version of the indigenous helicopters called Dhruv. We have undertaken extensive flying operations. I have myself taken a ferry (helicopter ride) from Agatti to Minicoy and from Minicoy to Kavaratti (in Lakshadweep) again. It is a wonderful machine but few incidents certainly call for some design re-evaluations," he told reporters in Mumbai. He said Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, the ALH manufacturer, is working on it. Two pilots and an aircrew diver of an ALH of the Coast Guard were killed when the chopper crashed and caught fire at Gujarat's Porbandar airport on January 5. Following the