1 month ago
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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde experienced a mid-air scare connected Thursday (May 7, 2026) day erstwhile his chopper was forced to instrumentality to Mumbai owed to atrocious weather. Mr. Shinde and different passengers were unhurt successful the incident.
An authoritative connection said the incidental happened erstwhile Mr. Shinde was flying from Mumbai to Murbad to be a wedding ceremonial successful the household of a enactment colleague. The chopper had taken disconnected from the Mahalaxmi Racecourse helipad astatine astir 3:30 p.m. Shortly aft takeoff, the aviator spotted a tempest strategy adjacent the airspace implicit Airoli. Recognising the imminent danger, the aviator instantly alerted Mr. Shinde astir the terrible upwind conditions ahead, the connection said.
He further advised the Deputy Chief Minister that proceeding to Murbad was excessively risky and that the safest people of enactment was to abort the journey. “Taking swift evasive action, the aviator turned the craft astir and successfully touched down astatine Juhu’s Pawan Hans installation wrong the adjacent fewer minutes,” the connection added.
The twin-engine Sikorsky S-76C chopper successful which Mr. Shinde was travelling has been a fashionable prime for VIP transport, exigency aesculapian services, and lipid and state offshore support, sources said, adding that it is known for its reliability and precocious avionics.
Mr. Shinde was accompanied by his idiosyncratic adjunct Prabhakar Kale, Officer connected Special Duty (OSD) Balsingh Rajput, Public Relations Officer Vinayak Patrudkar, a information guard, and an hose representative.
