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| Highflying people get high risk along | | | ABID SHAH
New Delhi, September 2: The risk that goes with the highflying lifestyle of VIPs has conveniently been wished away despite several tragedies in the past. And as one of the most intensive hunts for the missing helicopter of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, YS Rajshekhara Reddy, is on, the question that is being asked is why the flight was undertaken amid bad weather and poor visibility. The answer to this is simply that VIPs are not used to listen no from anyone about anything.
In the past former Punjab Governor, Mr Surendranath, and his wife lost their lives when they made the pilot of the State helicopter wade through low clouds in Himachal Pradesh. This had happened in 1994 and reports at that time indicated that the unfortunate couple intended to buy land in Himachal Pradesh and they insisted the pilot to fly so they are able to see the land despite inclement weather.
Four years ago two former ministers of Haryana, Mr OP Jindal and Mr Surinder Singh, died in a chopper crash near Saharanpur in UP. The ill fated helicopter belonged to Jindal who was an industrialist with an over Rs 10,000 crore businesses. The helicopter was an old machine and it crashed because of engine failure.
Earlier former Union Minister, Mr Madhavrao Scindia, with his entire entourage including a couple of journalist died in a plane crash near Mainpuri in UP. The reason was only a worn out aircraft could be available for the former Minister’s flight on the fateful day.
About three decades ago the then UP Chief Minister, the late VP Singh had a near air crash and the pilot who saved the State helicopter and the Chief Minister, Mr Sheshank Shekhar Singh, was made a Principal Secretary (Civil Aviation) by Mr VP Singh’s successor, Mr Virbahadur Singh. Today Mr Sheshank Shekhar is Cabinet Secretary of UP, courtesy Chief Minister Ms Mayawati whose chopper he flew when she first became Chief Minister in the first half of the 1990s.
This indicates the personal loyalties that pilots, more so the daring among them, have come to command from their highflying bosses.
In another incident a former UP Minister, Ashok Yadav, survived a chopper crash. He was lucky enough to escape with minor injuries and was able to walk a few miles to reach to safety. Yet he got a hefty compensation since the helicopter was hired and it had a decent insurance for itself and its passengers.
List of such instances except the last of them can be longer. But the point is that the country is now grappling with one of the worst crisis because the warning served in the past by VVIPs childish insistence to fly amid bad weather or un-airworthy choppers and aircraft have gone unheeded despite the disaster that this invariably caused.
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