A state-owned Agusta-Westland chopper which flies the chief minister and six trainer aircraft of the AP Aviation Academy, parked in a hangar at Begumpet airport were reduced to ashes in a fire that broke out late on Monday night.
The fire broke out in a cabin inside the hangar at around 11.15 pm. The roof of the hangar caved in within 20 minutes, falling on the parked aircraft. The damage is estimated at `93 crore.
The hangars are guarded by city armed reserve police and private security of the airport authorities. The CM’s helicopter, which had a full fuel tank, blew up in an explosion that was heard by eyewitness. It was supposed to go to Visakhapatnam on December 19 morning to pick up chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy who is touring the district.
CID Additional DG T. Krishna Prasad who was present at the scene said the hangars were built at the time of the Second World War, using huge teakwood logs. Inside, the authorities have built a cabin with false roofing and glass to keep spare parts.
“On Monday evening, the maintenance engineers came to the hangar and did some servicing to the chopper. They put some spare parts in a container and left. Ten to 15 minutes after they left, around 11.15 pm, the fire broke out due to a spark. The guards saw the spark and instant flames in the cabin. Within 15 to 20 minutes it grew into a catastrophic fire and everything is reduced to ashes,” Mr Prasad stated.
AP Aviation Corporation managing director N.V. Ramana Reddy, who was also at Begumpet airport, said the helicopter cost `65 crore. “The fire broke out due out to a short-circuit and the flames engulfed the building. The shed caved in and fell on the chopper and other aircraft,” he said.
APFSL director O.N. Murthy said a four member team is working on clues and so far no suspicious objects have been found. CCTV footage is also being retrieved.
The fire department deployed 10 tenders and 60 firemen that together with three fire engines of the airport and air force managed to put out the fire by about 6 am, according to regional fire officer, Hyderabad, G.V. Narayana Rao.