No sabotage, but 2 still behind bars

Mumbai: Even though the DGCA had ruled out sabotage in the Anil Ambani chopper case, the two Air Works employees Uday Warikar and Palraj Thevar are still not off the hook.
The police are all set to submit a watertight chargesheet against the duo soon, as they still feel the duo have violated serious aviation safety norms, which a senior Crime Branch official confirmed.
While Capt R N Joshi, senior pilot with Reliance Transport and Travels, in a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan alleged sabotage, a DGCA investigation report later ruled out sabotage as the motive.
Naseem Zaidi, director general of DGCA, said, "I cannot comment on the police investigation."
Quoting the report, he added, "The fault would have been detected by the metal chip detector by triggering amber cautionary light in the cockpit necessitating engine shut-down by the pilot before take-off."
Meanwhile, Arun Jadhav, who is leading Air Works employees in their "fight for justice", said, "We will soon move an application for Warikar and Thevar's bail.
When the DGCA has ruled out sabotage, what sense does it make for the police to pursue a case of sabotage, which attracts life imprisonment," asked Jadhav.
Air Works India Engineering has been engaged in maintaining the 13-seater, twin-engine Bell 412 helicopter (VT-RCL) since 2006.
It has been alleged that the pebbles incident may be a fallout of a long-standing dispute between the employees' union and the Air Works management.
17/06/09 Vinod Kumar Menon and Aditya Anand/MiD Day

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Categories: Airports Jun 2009, Indian Aviation- In General Jun 2009, Safety Jun 2009