Copter crash-lands, miraculous escape for Mallya, 5 others

Janata Party national executive president and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Mallya and filmstar Sanjay Khan had a miraculous escape along with four o...

Janata Party national executive president and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Mallya and filmstar Sanjay Khan had a miraculous escape along with four others when the helicopter in which they were travelling crashed at the Navanagar helipad, 8 km from old Bagalkot town near here while landing.

The helicopter, an MD 600 belonging to Tata Tea, plunged to the ground and broke into four pieces while trying to land at 2.25 pm today even as party workers and policemen watched agape.

Mallya was travelling along with his political secretary Tushita Patel, and an NDTV cameraman, Ajamullah Jami. There were also two crew members in the helicopter. While the cameraman’s arm was broken in the incident, Mallya was hurt in the left knee and Khan suffered a small cut.

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‘‘Just before landing at Bagalkot, the pilot took a sharp turn at high speed. After that it spun out of control and crashed. We have sustained minor injuries,’’ Mallya said. When asked whether the mishap took place because of pilot error, he said, ‘‘I have no clue.’’ Police sources said the mishap could have been due to the high wind velocity in Bagalkot.

A visibly relieved actor-producer Sanjay Khan said, ‘‘This is my teesra punarjanma (third rebirth). My respects for Mallya has gone up after the mishap. He was very cool and calm even when the helicopter was crashing. Just five minutes before landing, we saw Bagalkot town from the air and there were thousands of Mallya’s supporters waiting for him when the pilot lost control. Mallya very calmly gave some instructions to him, but it was too late and we crashed.’’

Both Mallya and Khan said, ‘‘We were saved by God’s grace.’’ Thirteen years ago the actor had escaped from a raging inferno on the sets of the TV serial The Sword of Tipu Sultan that was being shot at a Mysore studio. Khan said that after the crash they visited a temple and a masjid to offer prayers.

The helicopter, which took off from Bangalore, could not land due to gusty winds. The pilot, after a few attempts, was positioning the aircraft to land when it somersaulted three-four times in the air and then suddenly plunged to the ground from 20 feet after two of the rotary blades broke.

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The rear part of the chopper also broke into two and it landed with a thud in a muddy field.

Party workers, who were present in large numbers, rushed to the spot and pulled out Mallya, who was in a state of shock, and all the others stuck inside the wreckage. The victims were taken to a local hospital where they were given first aid. The cameraman was rushed to a local hospital and later shifted to Bangalore for further treatment.

Mallya, however, said he would continue with his schedule and later addressed party workers in Bagalkot.