A school dropout who aspired to build a helicopter has died after one of the blades of his helicopter prototype slashed his throat while he was testing it.
24-year-old Sheikh Ismail Sheikh Ibrahim, a school dropout from Maharashtra’s Fulsawangi village in Mahagaon tehsil, India, had built the prototype of a single-seater helicopter by welding steel pipes.
His passion was to do something extraordinary to bring fame to his village. So, he decided to build a chopper named “Munna Helicopter” because that was his nickname.
His friend Sachin told Times of India, “Inspired by the character of Rancho in the film ‘3 Idiots”, Ismail wanted to do something unique and hence decided to build a helicopter in the village. After gathering information about the design and assembly by watching YouTube videos, he started working on his dream project.
“It took nearly two years for Ismail to collect all the parts needed. He also readied the prototype of a single-seater helicopter by welding steel pipes and fitted a Maruti 800 engine to power it.”
Ismail wanted to showcase his helicopter to the entire village on Independence Day so he decided to check the prototype of his chopper near his workshop on Tuesday, August 10th in front of his friends.
Everyone saw Ismail starting the engine. Then the rotor blades wings started to move speedily. After this, the tail rotor blade got ripped off from the body and hit the main blades on the top.
Before anyone could do something, a broken blade slashed Ismail’s throat and he collapsed on the ground.
He was rushed to the nearest hospital in Pusad. However, he didn’t survive.