All five killed in chopper crash near Thane

Mumbai: All five persons including the pilot and other crew members were killed when a private chopper crashed in Thane today after coming in contact with high tension wires, police said.The deceased were identified as Captain Surendra Bhadoria, who was flying the ill-fated chopper belonging to United Heli Charters, co-pilot Alan Martin, additional pilot Anshu Matha, engineer Yatin Wakade and technician Dean D'Souza, officials of United Heli Charters told PTI.Thane SP (Rural) Anil Kumbhare said the mishap occurred today at around 7.50am near Tokawade village in Murbad taluka of Thane after the chopper took off from Juhu aerodrome here in the wee hours.The helicopter was heading towards Aurangabad for fuelling from where it was scheduled to go to Nagpur, Air Traffic Control, he said.The accident, the SP stated, occurred when the chopper came in contact with high tension electric wires.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has rushed a team to the accident spot to carry out investigations, an official said.