It was a snag in the transmission oil pressure gauge that distracted the pilots of the helicopter and proved fateful on the morning of September 2, 2009. The transmission oil pressure gauge helps the pilot monitor the condition of the gears and is customarily checked in the pre-flight inspection.
At 9.21 am, the crew noticed the snag and spent six crucial minutes locating the appropriate procedure in the emergency checklist. During this time, they failed to take note of the flight path going awry thus leading to the loss of situational awareness.
Things went out of control and at 9.27 am the co-pilot sensed the emergency but the helicopter crashed within 30 seconds.
The probe report indicates that the pilot, Group Captain S.K. Bhatia, “failed to react to the situation” despite repeated alerts from the co-pilot about the proximity of the ground in the last 33 seconds.
The committee also found that the out-of-control chopper descended at the speed of 10,000 ft per minute in the last 4 seconds before the crash.
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