The mishap that killed Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others happened in conditions seen in 60 per cent of all fatal helicopter crashes in India. Of the 35 civilian helicopter accidents in India between 1990 and 2009, not including the one on Wednesday morning, 12 were fatal; and in seven of these, poor visibility and bad weather — technically referred to as the loss of visual reference in flight — were to blame.

YSR’s chopper took off in rain, and headed in the direction of bad weather. While it is still not known under what circumstances the decision to fly was made, helicopter pilots and civil aviation experts say pilots are often under pressure to operate under conditions whose risks their bosses or clients do not fully comprehend.

“VIPs tend to ignore aviation rules while flying and mostly overrule pilots’ warnings,” a veteran pilot and civil aviation expert told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity.

“Most fatal accidents have happened because of ignoring weather conditions and delaying decision-making (on either attempting an emergency landing or returning to the point of departure) by those flying the aircraft,” said retired Air Vice Marshal K Sridharan, founder and president of Rotary Wing Society of India (RWSI), a New Delhi-based non-profit organisation that keeps detailed data on helicopter accidents.

Wing Commander (retd) S Katoch, Chief Pilot and Director, Civil Aviation Department of the Jammu and Kashmir government, said civilian aircraft on private flights would continue to be at risk of fatal accidents until state governments standardize their civil aviation departments, free them from non-technical bureaucratic cobwebs, and ensure that politicians do not directly or indirectly pressure pilots to fly in marginal weather or when the airworthiness of the aircraft is not beyond doubt.

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