Fingers pointed at pilot for YSR's death

The pilot, Capt. S.K. Bhatia, could have chosen to fly the helicopter at a low height due to poor visibility, said aviation experts. This could have caused the accident as he would not have known about the hillock.
Capt. Bhatia could not identify the hill as he had missed the flight track, said experts.
A gap of 1,000 feet between the hill and helicopter is a must. The flight should have flown above 4,700 feet since hills are located up to 3,700 feet in Nallamala forest.
Helicopters have a ground proximity warning system (GPWS) which is designed to alert pilots if the chopper is in immediate danger
due to obstruction in the route. GPWS can alert the pilot one kilometre ahead of
the obstruction such as hills and constructions.
However, Capt. Bhatia might have tried to land on the hill and it could have been diverted off route by the gales. This must have caused the helicopter to crash, said experts.
With the alleged miscalculation and error in the judgement, all the five passengers were charred to death.
“Capt. Bhatia knew the track as he has travelled many times in the same route. However, he could not avoid the mishap as the flight was forced to be diverted up to 18 nautical miles on eastern side near Rudrakoduru of Kurnool district where hills are located,” said a senior pilot.
“Normally, we avoid flying low in order to keep off the hills. Capt. Bhatia should have opted to fly above 4,700 feet. He should have returned to Hyderabad if weather did not permit
the chopper to move further. The chopper should have just hovered as it had enough fuel which was sufficient to fly for four hours,” said another experienced pilot.

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