Family members rushed to UHPL office,learnt of deaths

The helicopter crash Sunday morning in the Naneghat hills along the Western Ghats came as a massive shock to the families of the five who had died. Hearing initial reports of a crash,anxious family members rushed to the United Helicharters Private Limited (UHPL) office in Vile Parle West,where they learnt that the crash had claimed the lives of all five on board.

UHPL lost three pilots – Captain Surendra Singh Baduria (52),Captain Allen Martin (30),Captain Anshu Matta (54) – and engineer Yatin Wakade (30) and technician Dean D’souza (38),after the twin blade copter reportedly got entangled in high tension wires and crashed in the hills. Captain Matta was based in Lokandwala,Wakade in Bandra and D’Souza in Mulund in Mumbai,while Captain Baduria hailed from Goa and Captain Martin from Bangalore. On Sunday,the team was on their way to Nagpur for a chartered service requested by the Reserve Bank of India. Uday Deshmukh,Head,Human Resource,UHPL said,“The crash,our first ever,has come as a big shock to us. For the last 15 years,international auditors have inspected our flight operations and certified us as having the best practices in safety.”

Familes and friends of Captain Matta and Wakade managed to reach the spot of the accident,said Deshmukh.

“Captain Martin’s family is devastated to learn about the accident. His family is in a complete state of shock,” a family friend of the Martins said. Deshmukh said the company has assured the families of the deceased that the bodies will be brought back home. He said that with the postmortem underway,the bodies were expected to be brought back to Mumbai by ambulance late on Sunday night.