Man dies as blade of helicopter he was building breaks off, hits head

A 29-year-old school dropout turned aviation enthusiast from Fulsawangi in Yavatmal district, who was keen on building his own helicopter, died after being struck by the rotor blade of the contraption that he had built and was testing Wednesday.

Engaged in welding and fabrication works in Fulsawangi, Shaikh Ismail, a Class VIII dropout, had developed an interest in aviation and was working on building his own ‘Munna Helicopter’, for the last two years.

Early Wednesday morning, when Shaikh had decided to undertake a trial run of the contraption and started the engine, its rotor blade tore off and hit him, killing him immediately. “One of the blades fell off and hit the youth on his head,” Yavatmal Superintendent of police Dilip Patil Bhujbal said.