NEW DELHI, 1 April 2005 — A pilot and two state ministers, one a billionaire industrialist, were killed yesterday when their helicopter crashed at Gangoh near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Haryana Agriculture Minister Surinder Singh and Power Minister Om Prakash Jindal had been recently sworn in as state ministers after the Congress swept to power in the assembly elections.
MLA Ved Goyal and at least two others were injured in the crash. The Jindal group helicopter was on its way to Delhi from Chandigarh. Though no details were available, technical fault is believed to have caused the crash. After taking off from Chandigarh at 11:30 a.m. (IST), the plane lost contact near Saharanpur.
The plane, piloted by Col. P.S. Chauhan, was carrying five persons including the ministers’ bodyguards.
Jindal — head of the $2.2-billion steel manufacturing Jindal group — his colleague, Singh, and the pilot died instantly when the French-made aircraft crashed after a midair engine failure, according to officials.
Jindal, 75, was elected to the Haryana state assembly for a third time earlier this year. Survivor Ved Goyal, a relative of Jindal, later told private television networks that the New Delhi-bound aircraft came down moments after its engine failed some 30 minutes after taking off.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed shock over the accident.
Former Indian Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee and other national political leaders have also expressed deep shock, describing Jindal’s death as a major loss to India’s political and corporate establishments.
Senior Congress leader Motilal Vora said the Congress lost two of its popular representatives with the deaths of Jindal and Singh. “I was stunned on hearing the news. I knew Jindal for years as an industrialist and a popular public figure.
“We are extremely shocked by the death of the two leaders,” he said.
Both Jindal and Singh were key leaders of the Haryana chapter of Congress party. Jindal’s son Navin Jindal is an MP.
Jindal was recently listed in Forbes magazine’s World Billionaires List. As a business group, Jindal organization ranks sixth among the top Indian business houses.
Singh was the son of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal. He returned to Haryana Assembly after 22 years.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters the helicopter was only three years old. He described Col. Chauhan as an experienced pilot, trained in flying choppers. The helicopter had undergone 25-hour mandatory technical checks just four days ago.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will hold an inquiry into the cause of the accident, with DGCA Deputy Director P. K. Chattopadhyay as the inspector, sources said.
