Jharkhand air crash questions still unanswered

Ranchi: It was not only Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda who survived crash-landing of their helicopter recently, but about 100-odd passengers of Jet Airways also had a narrow escape on the same day.
The Jet flight had already got the Air Traffic Controller’s permission for landing but was diverted to Kolkata at the eleventh hour to accommodate the helicopter carrying Munda.
A major untoward incident was evaded. But the question is - what safety measures were exercised to deal with a possible eventuality?
The disaster management team was neither taken into confidence before the crash landing of the helicopter nor after. Soon after take-off, the helicopter developed a technical snag and struggled in the air for about half-an-hour. The airport authority that is supposed to have got the information did not contact the disaster management team. The team is available under the leadership of the Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi and comprises Army personnel too.
If Ranchi DC KK Soan is to be believed, there were other options too but the pilot opted for the worst one - crash landing, albeit though it turned out to be successful.
21/05/12 DP Sharan/The Pioneer

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Categories: airports May 2012, Safety May 2012