AMARAVATI: It took over two decades for 29-year-old Mahima Gajaraj to realise her childhood dream of becoming a pilot. But her dreams came to an abrupt end just a couple of months before she was to have completed her pilot training when the chopper she was flying crashed near Nalgonda on Saturday.
Mahima completed her postgraduation and joined a lucrative job in the US but returned to India to pursue her dream of becoming a pilot. She convinced her husband Parandhaman and other family members to let her take up the pilot training.
The resident of Chennai had been residing in Vijayapuri South (VP South) near Nagarjuna Sagar for the past six months to undergo the training. Her father Gajaraj recently died after contracting Covid-19. Sources said that Mahima is believed to have learnt the skills in handling the chopper within a month of joining the training session in October. It is learnt that she was one of the best trainees at the academy.
Flytech Aviation Academy launched the training school in VP South in 2010. However, activities picked up only two years ago. The academy admits two batches per year and provides training on small aircrafts on the air strip in VP South. About 20 students were undergoing training in Mahima's batch.
Gurazala revenue divisional officer Pardha Saradhi, DSP Jayaram Prasad and inspector Surendra Babu inspected the Academy and seized some documents. "We are yet to receive communication from Nalgonda police on the incident. We will handover the documents to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau whenever they reach the site," said Guntur rural SP Vishal Gunni. The last chopper crash near Nagarjuna Sagar took place 18 years ago in which no casualties were reported.
