Chhattisgarh: Chopper crashes at Raipur airport, two pilots killed

The incident took place during a flying practice at the Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur under Mana police station limits at around 9:10 pm.

Raipur: Two pilots were killed after a helicopter of Chhattisgarh government crashed at the Raipur airport on Thursday night, police said. The incident took place during a flying practice at the Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur under Mana police station limits at around 9:10 pm, said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prashant Agrawal.

Two pilots on board the chopper were seriously injured in the crash and immediately taken to a nearby private hospital where they were declared dead, said the SSP.
The deceased were identified as Captain Gopal Krishna Panda and Captain A P Shrivastava, said the police officer.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel expressed grief over the tragedy and condoled the death of the pilots. "Just got a sad news about the state helicopter crashing at the airport in Raipur. In this tragic accident, both our pilots Captain Panda and Captain Srivastava have sadly passed away. May God give strength to his family members and peace to the departed soul in this time of grief," read the translation of his tweet in Hindi.