Pilot Prafulla Kumar Mishra, hailing from Bhubaneswar, was killed in a crash of a private helicopter while on a joyride at an isolated spot in the Mumbai suburb Goregaon on Sunday.
According to the BMC Disaster Control, the helicopter, a Robinson R44 belonging to the Aman Aviation Pvt ltd, was on a sightseeing flight over Mumbai when it suddenly crashed in the forested Aarey Milk Colony and turned into a fireball around 12.15 pm.
While Mishra was declared dead at a hospital, a copilot and two passengers including a woman were reported to be in critical conditions.
According to witnesses, hundreds of people from nearby tribal hamlets at Aarey Milk Colony and some other settlements rushed to the help of the victims even as fire tenders also reached the spot.
People and police personnel extricated the victims from the burning chopper and rushed them to the Seven Hills Hospital at Andheri East.