Five people were killed when private helicopter crashed after hitting high tension wires on the Kalyan-Ahmednagar highway atop the Naneghat hillock in Murbad taluka of neighbouring Thane district on Sunday morning.
The Bell 212 helicopter, belonging to United Helicharters, crashed less than 20 minutes after it had taken off from the Jehu helibase at 7.45 am. It was on its way to Aurangabad, when the mishap took place.
The chopper, which was carrying the crew including pilots and engineers of the company, hit the high tension wires atop the Naneghar hillock, came rolling down and fell on some trees at the foothills. The chopper, which broke into pieces soon after it crashed onto the trees, burst into flames soon afterwards.
The five killed in the mishap were identified as Pilot captain Badhuria, Capt Allen, Capt Mata, M Yatinb and DN D’souza.
Sources prima facie attributed the helicopter crash to a combination of bad weather and pilot error. The police recovered flight data recorder from the mishap site.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered a probe into the circumstances leading to the mishap.