Dharamsala, September 7 – The helicopter, which crashed in the jungles of Nallamala last week killing Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy and four others, had developed a technical fault while flying His Holiness the Dalai Lama in January this year, according to a report by Hindustan Times.
Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister of the exile Tibetan government, was quoted by HT as saying, “”While flying from Hyderabad to Gulbarga in Karnataka for a religious programme in the same Bell-430 chopper in January this year, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was told by the pilot during flight that helicopter was experiencing technical problem,” But, luckily the pilot managed to land the chopper safely at the destination, he added.
Rinpoche said a helicopter for the His Holiness the Dalai Lama was to be hired from a Chennai-based aviation company for the flight to Gulbarga, but Chief Minister Reddy had offered the state-owned helicopter for His Holiness.
His Holiness did not travel in the helicopter and took another chopper for his return from Gulbarga, he said.
Rinpoche said he was deeply saddened by the death of Reddy.
