Coast Guard helicopter woman pilot hurt in crash-landing, dies
Coast Guard Assistant Commandant Captain Penny Chaudhary, who had suffered a head injury during the crash landing of a helicopter near Murud in Raigad on March 10, died after battling for life for 17 days. She was admitted at the naval hospital INHS Asvini in south Mumbai's Colaba area. Capt. Chaudhary had suffered internal bleeding after the rotor of the chopper struck her head.
The chopper was on a routine sortie when crashed
The Coast Guard Chetak helicopter was on a routine sortie with four passengers, Deputy Commandant Balwinder Singh, Assistant Commandant Chaudhary, and two divers Sandeep and Baljeet, when it crash-landed. Capt. Chaudhary, who was also the co-pilot of the chopper, was the first to disembark from the crashed helicopter but was hit on her helmet by the rotor blade, which was moving slowly.
Pilot and co-pilot tried to land chopper on sandy part
When the engine of the helicopter shut mid-air, the pilot and the co-pilot used the rotor's movement to glide the chopper towards the shore to prevent it from falling into the sea. They tried to land the helicopter on a sandy part of the beach, but could not, and it landed on a rocky patch on the Nadagram beach.
