Senior NCP leader and minister Chhagan Bhujbal’s helicopter landed on a parking lot on Saturday morning, triggering safety concerns.
The pilot of the aircraft reportedly mistook the parking lot for a helipad and made the landing.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that an immediate inquiry would be conducted into the matter.
The minister was headed to the inauguration of the Jyoti Savitri Zilla Parishad School, which was organised in Khanwadi, the birthplace of Mahatma Phule, in Pune district. The parking lot where the helicopter parked was a kilometre away from the assigned helipad.
There were no damages to people or property in the incident.
When the chopper reached the location, the pilot saw that there were not many vehicles in the parking lot meant for cars and two wheelers. He mistook the lot for a helipad and landed the aircraft there.
A Republic TV report said that the pilot reportedly lost sight of the helipad due to a brownout effect caused by swirling dust disturbed by the helicopter's rotors.
When a helicopter has to land, they are given the latitude and longitude of the helipad are given to the crew in the aircraft.
The Pune district police said that the crew knew the coordinates but ignored it and landed on the parking lot.
The incident created a scare as it came less than three months after Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash.
“My pilot landed wrongly in a parking lot. All of us are safe,” Bhujbal said.
A senior police officer at Pune rural police said that the pilot will have to face action and that the matter would be reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Meanwhile, the minister had continued on with his scheduled programme after the disruption.