Five killed in copter crash

By C. K. Chandramohan

MUSSOORIE, JAN. 2. Tragedy hit this tourist resort today as a helicopter chartered by DLF Company crashed around noon killing five persons including the pilot. The sixth passenger - wife of the DLF Chairman, Mr. K. P. Singh - has been rushed to Delhi with serious injuries.Several people saw the ill-fated helicopter falling down. Smashing through trees, it fell on the Lyndale estate owned by Mr. Singh.

The Singhs, who had purchased this isolated resort near Hathi Paon, loved the place so much that they used to ``run'' here on most festivals. This time they were here to celebrate the dawn of the New Year.

The group was to return to Delhi today. Mr. K. P. Singh and the former Union Minister, Mr. Kamal Nath, left the Lyndale estate for Jolly Grant airport by a chopper. When the rest of the party did not come for a long time by the other chopper, they went back to find out the reason for the delay - only to learn about the crash.

Fire brigade personnel who were among the first to reach the spot, retrieved all six, including the pilot. Three of them had died instantly while another woman died after some time even as local doctors who had rushed to the scene of the accident tried their best to save her.

Mrs. K. P. Singh and the pilot, Capt. R. K. Yadav, were rushed to the Military Hospital in Dehra Dun where the latter succumbed to multiple injuries in the skull within minutes. Mrs. Singh was immediately taken to Delhi.The names of those killed were given out as Major P. K. Mehra, his wife, his daughter Ms. Radhika Mehra and Ms. R. Dhodi.

Today's crash and the indiscriminate firing on December 31 night by the gunner of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Charata in which six New Year revellers were injured are seen as a bad omen by the locals. ``These incidents have shaken us and we are now scared of a bigger tragedy,'' said Mr. Ramesh Thapliyal, who runs a general merchant's shop in Mussoorie.

Informed sources reveal that although helicopters used to frequent the Lyndale estate, repeated requests to inform the local administration and the fire brigade about the landing and take-off schedules were not fulfilled. This information has to be given to the authorities under the law.

Yet another major flaw - this time with the local authorities - is that Mussoorie, which attracts nearly 15 lakh tourists every year and houses the prestigious Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration where IAS probationers are trained and the Institute of Technology Management of the DRDO where very senior resource persons keep visiting, does not have a single anesthetist. ``If a person has to be given anaesthesia for an operation during an emergency, all that can be done is rush the patient to Dehra Dun or bring in an anaesthetist from there - both requiring at least two hours which might be crucial for the patient,'' admitted a doctor.

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