The helicopter carrying Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy from Hyderabad to Chittoor on Wednesday deviated 18 km from its path towards the east, near Rudrakoduru in the Nallamala forest range in Kurnool district, before it hit a cliff and crashed.
“The chopper hit the cliff, crashed and exploded. All the five persons in the ill-fated helicopter were burnt to death,” state Finance Minister K Rosaiah and Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy said here on Thursday.
The chopper might have drifted from its path because of a large cloud formation due to inclement weather and ended up hitting the cliff, they said.
Except the tail portion, the body of the Bell-430 helicoper of AP Aviation Corporation was reduced to bits and pieces in the mishap.
The helicopter crashed 10 km away from Rudrakoduru on a hostile terrain and army commandos had to slither down with the help of a rope from a rescue helicopter.