YSR Reddy to Madhavrao Scindia: Indian leaders who died in air crashes

With 241 people, including former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, killed in the recent Air India crash, here's a look at past air tragedies that claimed the lives of prominent Indians

The Air India crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday claimed the lives of 241 people out of 242 on board, Air India said in a statement. Former Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani is also among those who lost their lives.

 

Several prominent figures and political leaders of India have lost their lives in plane crashes. The list includes the father of the Indian nuclear programme, Homi J Bhabha, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s son Sanjay Gandhi, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, and more. Here’s a list of all those who lost their lives in an airplane crash:

 

 

Politicians of India who lost their lives in an airplane crash:

 

YS Rajasekhara Reddy (2009)

 

Then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Rajasekhara Reddy, popularly known as YSR, died on 2 September 2009, when his Bell 430 chopper took off from Hyderabad for Chittoor district but crashed in the dense Nallamala forest due to bad weather. According to media reports, as many as 122 people died from shock or suicide after Reddy's death.

 

Sanjay Gandhi (1980)

 

Sanjay Gandhi, the son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who played a significant role during the Emergency (1975–77), was a pilot himself. He lost his life on 23 June 1980 at the age of 33 when he lost control of his aeroplane during an aerobatic manoeuvre. The death of Indira Gandhi’s political heir changed the course of Indian politics.

 

Madhavrao Scindia (2001)

 

Madhavrao Scindia, son of Jiwaji Rao Scindia, the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Gwalior during the British Raj, was himself the Minister of Civil Aviation once and a leader of the Indian National Congress. On 30 September 2001, he was going to Kanpur for a political rally when his private aircraft crashed. He lost his life along with all eight people on board.

 

GMC Balayogi (2002)

 

Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader GMC Balayogi died in a chopper crash on 3 March 2002, when a private helicopter carrying him from Bhimavaram in West Godavari district crashed into a pond near Kaikalur in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.

 

Cyprian Sangma (2004)

 

Meghalaya's Rural Development Minister Cyprian Sangma and nine others, who were heading from Guwahati to Shillong on a Pawan Hans helicopter, died when the chopper crashed near Barapani lake, just 20 km from the state capital, on 22 September 2004.

 

Om Prakash Jindal and Surender Singh (2005)

 

Om Prakash Jindal, the chairman of the OP Jindal Group and Haryana Power Minister, lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2005 along with Agriculture Minister Surender Singh. The King Cobra helicopter was en route to Chandigarh from Delhi when it crashed in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur.

 

Dorjee Khandu (2011)

 

Then Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, along with four others, died on 30 April 2011 when the Pawan Hans helicopter carrying them from Tawang to Itanagar crashed in West Kameng district of the state. His body was recovered from Luguthang, near the China border.

 

Other prominent figures and celebrities of India who lost their lives in an airplane crash:

 

Homi Jehangir Bhabha (1966)

 

Homi Jehangir Bhabha, India's pioneering nuclear physicist, died in a tragic crash aboard Air India Flight 101 on 24 January 1966. The plane crashed into Mont Blanc in the Swiss Alps due to a miscommunication with Geneva air traffic control. His death remains mired in conspiracy, with many theories suggesting different reasons for it.

 

CDS General Bipin Rawat (2021)

 

India's first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash on 8 December 2021. Twelve people lost their lives in the crash along with Rawat and his wife Madhulika. The incident occurred near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu while he was en route from Sulur to Wellington. The standing committee report stated that the cause of the crash was “Human Error (Aircrew)”.

 

KS Sowmya Sathyanarayana (2004)

 

South Indian actress K S Sowmya Sathyanarayana, popularly known as Soundarya, lost her life in an air crash on 17 April 2004. Amitabh Bachchan’s co-star in Sooryavansham, was flying from Bengaluru to Karimnagar with her brother at the time of the crash. She was reportedly pregnant at the time.