Copter crash casts a pall of gloom on Mumbai’s aerial ride business

On December 11, a four-seater Robinson 44 helicopter crashed in Aarey Milk Colony, with a couple celebrating their sixth wedding anniversary on board. The mishap led to the death of the pilot Praful Kumar Mishra and the couple, Ritesh and Vrinda Modi, while the technician who was also in the copter suffered only minor injuries. The reason for the crash was a clutch failure, as mentioned by the pilot to the air traffic control room right before the incident. The Air Accident Investigation Bureau has visited the spot and the investigation in the matter is on. But the family of the deceased couple has demanded that Aman Aviation, the operator of the helicopter, should not be allowed to carry on operations until both its copters are thoroughly checked.

Mumbai has 26 private helicopter operators and according to them, the city is ahead of other metropolitans in terms of the number of people who go on joyrides. Mumbai, in fact, gets passengers for joyrides from other states as well. But this accident has led to a drop in business for these operators. All schemes and plans for New Year celebrations have been suspended after this accident, and the companies that were planning to come up with special offers during the season have now decided to keep the same on hold till Valentine’s Day.

In Dates:
December 11: The helicopter crashed in Aarey colony when a couple was taking a joyride in it. The pilot died on the same day even before he could be admitted to Seven Hills hospital in Andheri (east).
December 13: Ritesh Modi, the husband who had surprised his wife on their sixth wedding anniversary with the joyride, died.
December 16: Technician Sanjeev Shankar, who was on board the helicopter, is discharged as he had sustained only minor injuries.
December 24: Vrinda Modi, the wife, dies, leaving behind the couple's two-year-old child.