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Our Bureau

"A decision about continuing or cancelling the Sarang display during the show would be taken at the highest IAF levels.''

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Bangalore Feb. 2 One of the Dhruv helicopters rehearsing for the flying displays for the Aero India show opening next Wednesday crashed, killing the co-pilot, Sqn Leader Priye Sharma. The accident happened at the Yelahanka air base here on Friday.

The pilot, Wing Commander V. Jetley, has been hospitalised and his condition is stable, an IAF spokesman said.

The spokesman did not say how the crash happened, merely stating that the incident was now with the court of inquiry. A decision about continuing or cancelling the Sarang display during the show, he said, would be taken at the highest IAF levels.

The aerobat Dhruvs, red and blue speckled `Sarangs' or peacocks in flight, are today the world's only three helicopter display teams.

The aircraft are a product of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. The pilots are specially trained for their spectacular and breath-taking choreographs; they have displayed their carefully crafted and coordinated formations in air in India and in international air shows. The formation of five or six copters makes some close calls as the copters mingle and criss-cross vertically and head-on. In this instance, the aircraft reportedly lost height before crashing.

The Sarang team made its last public show in the third week of January before the Russian defence minister's delegation.

It was formed in October 2003 and first performed at the Asian Aerospace Show, Singapore, in 2004.

Two British copter teams — the Blue Eagles of the Army Air Corps and the Black Cats of the Royal Navy — are the only others to rival the Sarangs. The IAF's other much-adored aerobatic team, Surya Kiran or sun-beam, is made of the fixed wing Chetak fighter planes.

More Stories on : Accidents | Airlines | Karnataka

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Dhruv pilot killed in crash at air show site

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