Helicopter, bodies blew up into pieces

By Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

The helicopter carrying Chief Minister Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy crashed when it hit a tree on the Rudrakonda hillock in the dense Nallamala forest of Kurnool district on Wednesday.
Search operations took a long time as the area is difficult to access. The helicopter is believed to have been flying low due to bad weather conditions when it hit the tree. The accident took place 44.6 nautical miles from Kurnool and 30 kilometres from Atmakur where the terrain is rugged.
Air Wing Commander Sagar Bharathi along with his team located the accident spot at 10.20 am on Thursday morning.
Atmakur sub-inspector of Police M. Suresh Kumar Reddy, from the crash site said, "The chopper hit the trees. Several trees were burnt. The fuel tank exploded after it hit the trees.The bodies of five victims including that of the Chief Minister were found mutilated. He was identified based on his dhoti and thinning hair. The only body that was not disfigured was that of the chief security officer A.C.S. Wesley."
The wings of the helicopter were not found at the site. Only the tailpiece and parts of the cockpit and fuselage were found. Army helicopters with commandos on board were rushed to the spot. Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy initiated massive administrative reforms and took up various prestigious projects, with a vision to develop the city on par with Shanghai and Singapore.
He gave the city a world class international airport at Shamshabad. Formation of the Greater Hyderabad on April 16, 2007, was yet another milestone achieved by Dr Reddy. The city limits were expanded from 172 sq km to 625 sq km, making it the second largest city in the country after Delhi in terms of area.
The credit of expanding the limits of the HMDA from 2,300 sq km to 6,876 sq km also goes to Dr Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy. He took up major infrastructure projects like construction of Outer Ring Road (ORR) and widening of Inner Ring Road (IRR) for better and faster connectivity.
He took up yet another major project to bring Godavari waters to the city from Pranahita near Karimnagar district. Hyderabadis owe resumption of daily water supply in the city to Dr Reddy.
Dr Reddy initiated construction of over 70,000 houses for the urban poor.Rubber dams, a component of the Musi beautification, was completed after Dr Reddy pulled up the GHMC commissioner, Mr S.P. Singh, in public, and gave him a deadline.Despite pressure on the government exchequer, he did not increase electricity tariff, property tax and water charges.

YSR dies in chopper crash

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others were killed when their helicopter crashed on a hillock, about 49 nautical miles east of Kurnool, more than an hour it took off from here yesterday.The charred bodies of 60-year-old Reddy and others and the wreckage of the twin-engined Bell 430 helicopter were located at 8.30 AM today on a hillock, eight kms from Kurnool, 23 hours after it went missing while flying to Chittoor in south Andhra Pradesh.
The helicopter appeared to have hit a tree, crashed and perhaps exploded

Massive search for missing Andhra CM YSR

HELICOPTER LOST OVER MAOIST-INFESTED NALLAMALA;
SUKHOI, I.S.R.O. AIRCRAFT MAP TERRAIN, FORCES COMB AREA
The state has also decided to seek the help of the US Defence Department to locate the missing helicopter through their satellite visualsIndia's biggestever air, land and satellite search operation failed to locate the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, and others who went missing along with their helicopter on Wednesday in the dense Nallamala forests. The unprecedented effort included ultra-sophisticated remote sensing aircraft of Isro and the IAF, helicopters, Army personnel, 5,000 CRPF men and Andhra and Karnataka police forces.
The Chief Minister had taken off from the Begumpet airport at 8.35 am to go to Chittoor to launch his Rachabanda programme, to talk to drought-affected farmers and quell their fears.
Dr Reddy's helicopter pilot, Group Captain Bhatia, an Indian Air Force pilot on deputation with the government, last contacted the Air Traffic Control at Chennai at 9.02 am and did not indicate any emergency. Gp Cpt Bhatia, a veteran of the north-east, did not put out any emergency or distress call.

No distress call from pilot: AAI, weather warning ignored?

By Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

There was no distress call from the pilot of the helicopter, which went missing along with the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy, said the Airport Authority of India director, Mr R.K. Singla.
"The last contact (from the helicopter) was at 9.12 am to Shamshabad ATC. It (the helicopter) was located near Atmakur in Kurnool district (when it last contacted ATC). There was no communication later on," Mr Singla said.
"All efforts to establish contact failed. There was no trouble reported by the pilot as well as there was no SOS.There was enough fuel in the helicopter, which was also in good condition. ATC lost the signal abruptly," the AAI director said.
He, however, added, "We can't rule out any possibility including a crash or emergency landing."
Dr Singla said that an Indian Air Force helicopter which was pressed into service in the afternoon returned within 30 to 40 minutes due to bad weather."Another helicopter of the state government that took off from here landed at Atmakur in Kurnool."
Intelligence officials said that there was no information on the whereabouts of the Chief Minister.
State police officials are suspecting that the pilot might have ignored heavy rain and weather warning signals issued by meteorological department (Met).
As per the meteorological department officials, a heavy rain warning was issued for Rayalaseema and Telangana districts.
Mr Subba Rao, an official of Met, said, "The weather forecast issued a warning of heavy rainfall in Telangana, Rayalaseema and south coastal Andhra Pradesh due to upper air circulation."
The AP Aviation Corporation MD, Mr K.V. Brahmananda Reddy, said "We are making efforts to trace the missing helicopters. But so far there is no communication."

Smiling cop Wesley in missing list

By U Sudhakar Reddy

The Chief Minister's chief security officer, Mr A.S.C. Wesley, who went missing with boss, is known as `Mr Nice' among his colleagues. He joined the duty three months after he was shifted from task force.
According police officials, Mr Wesley always sported a smile and was liked by the Chief Minister when he was working as the additional superintendent of police (operations).
Mr Wesley has been credited with solving several cases and rackets while working as task force DCP. He worked as deputy superintendent of police in Rajendranagar and DSP in Penukonda.
"Mr Wesley is a computer savvy official and is known for implementing several reforms in Kadapa. He is also one of the key men behind the Hyderabad police website."
Mr Wesley's family members were reluctant to talk.