Probe begins into YSR helicopter crash

Hyderabad: Aviation and police authorities on Saturday began a probe into the helicopter crash that killed Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others on Wednesday.

A team of the Andhra Pradesh police Crime Investigation Department (CID) gathered mangled pieces of the helicopter that crashed into a hill in the dense Nallamalla forest in Kurnool district and brought them to the district collector's office in Kurnool town.

Kurnool district collector Mukesh Kumar Meena said the pieces and instruments would be handed over to a special investigation team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is likely to return here in a couple of days to inspect the crash site for further investigations.

District authorities on Friday handed over to the team the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), which is likely to throw light on the cause of the crash.

"They have taken the CVR to Delhi to retrieve data and examine the same. The CVR along with ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) are the important instruments for the investigators," he said.

The CVR or 'block box' will help the investigation team to understand the messages sent by the pilot to ground control and what the pilot and co-pilot spoke to each other before the crash.

Meena said flight documents, photographs and videos taken at the crash site have also been handed over to the DGCA team. The investigators also collected copies of the autopsy reports of all five victims.

The collector said the CID was also conducting a probe into the crash. Police and anti-Maoist Greyhound forces continue to guard the crash site over a hillock Pavurala Gutta. "They will remain there till all the debris and parts are collected," he said.

Police on Friday registered a case of suspicious deaths following a complaint by a local official. The case under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code was registered at the Atmakur police station.

The Central Government had on Thursday set up the DGCA panel headed by Chairman and Managing Director of Pawan Hans Helicopter Limited, R K Tiyagi, to inquire into the circumstances of the accident.

YSR, as the chief minister was popularly known, his special secretary, chief security officer and two pilots were killed when the chopper carrying to Chittoor crashed in bad weather.