Ranchi:
Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda and five others who were travelling with him had a narrow escape today when their helicopter crash-landed at the Ranchi airport. Those on board included two pilots and Mr Munda's wife. They were rushed to hospital and are being treated for minor injuries.
"The Chief Minister has bruise injuries on his hands and a minor fracture in his right ankle. His wife Meera Munda too has bruise injuries on her right hand. Both the pilots - GPS Kaushik and Vipul Kumar Singh - have fractures in their hips," said Dr PD Singh, of Apollo Hospital in Ranchi.
As per preliminary probe reports from the Jharkhand capital, the helicopter's radar appeared to have malfunctioned. (Read) This led to problems in the twin-engined Agusta AW 109 helicopter in landing at Kuchai in Saraikela-Kharsawan district.
"When we were approaching the runway for landing at Kuchai, we realised that one of the controls have failed. Obviously, we could not land at the helipad so we decided to come to the runway because emergencies like these require a running landing and Ranchi airport had safety services. When we came here, we alerted the emergency services and diverted the aircrafts. We had only 15 minutes of fuel left. But just as we were about to touch the ground, the aircraft suddenly went out of control at the last minute and we hit the ground," said the co-pilot Vipul Kumar Singh.
Mr Singh added that there are very few instances around the world of the pilots being able to land successfully in such emergency situations. "So, we are happy that we were able to achieve that. There are only minor injuries to passengers," he said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has already begun to probe the helicopter accident. (Timeline of Arjun Munda's chopper crash)
Mr Munda was travelling to his constituency of Sareikela-Kharsawan just an hour away from Ranchi, but the pilot then alerted the Air Traffic Controllers that he was having trouble steering because of a problem with the rudder control systems. The pilot asked for permission for a precautionary landing, which was granted, so he turned around and returned to Ranchi. The chopper hovered for ten minutes while the pilot tried to navigate the safest possible landing under the circumstances. He allegedly made five attempts to land, before the chopper crashed. (Watch: How Munda's chopper crash-landed)
Video footage showed the helicopter landing on its side. The crash landing did not cause a fire. The area around the landing has been cordoned off.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has vished Mr Munda speedy recovery. (Read)
In May last year, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorji Khandu was killed along with four others after their helicopter crashed in bad weather in a hilly terrain in the state.
Earlier in September 2009, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was killed in Kurnool district when the helicopter carrying him crashed.
"The Chief Minister has bruise injuries on his hands and a minor fracture in his right ankle. His wife Meera Munda too has bruise injuries on her right hand. Both the pilots - GPS Kaushik and Vipul Kumar Singh - have fractures in their hips," said Dr PD Singh, of Apollo Hospital in Ranchi.
As per preliminary probe reports from the Jharkhand capital, the helicopter's radar appeared to have malfunctioned. (Read) This led to problems in the twin-engined Agusta AW 109 helicopter in landing at Kuchai in Saraikela-Kharsawan district.
"When we were approaching the runway for landing at Kuchai, we realised that one of the controls have failed. Obviously, we could not land at the helipad so we decided to come to the runway because emergencies like these require a running landing and Ranchi airport had safety services. When we came here, we alerted the emergency services and diverted the aircrafts. We had only 15 minutes of fuel left. But just as we were about to touch the ground, the aircraft suddenly went out of control at the last minute and we hit the ground," said the co-pilot Vipul Kumar Singh.
Mr Singh added that there are very few instances around the world of the pilots being able to land successfully in such emergency situations. "So, we are happy that we were able to achieve that. There are only minor injuries to passengers," he said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has already begun to probe the helicopter accident. (Timeline of Arjun Munda's chopper crash)
Mr Munda was travelling to his constituency of Sareikela-Kharsawan just an hour away from Ranchi, but the pilot then alerted the Air Traffic Controllers that he was having trouble steering because of a problem with the rudder control systems. The pilot asked for permission for a precautionary landing, which was granted, so he turned around and returned to Ranchi. The chopper hovered for ten minutes while the pilot tried to navigate the safest possible landing under the circumstances. He allegedly made five attempts to land, before the chopper crashed. (Watch: How Munda's chopper crash-landed)
Video footage showed the helicopter landing on its side. The crash landing did not cause a fire. The area around the landing has been cordoned off.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has vished Mr Munda speedy recovery. (Read)
In May last year, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorji Khandu was killed along with four others after their helicopter crashed in bad weather in a hilly terrain in the state.
Earlier in September 2009, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was killed in Kurnool district when the helicopter carrying him crashed.
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