New Delhi:
A helicopter with politician Sharad Yadav had to land minutes after it took off from Patna because of a major technical problem. Sources say the tip of the tail rotator blade of the chopper broke mid-air.
Yadav, who is the President of the Janata Dal (United), two pilots, and three other passengers, are safe.
"We took off around 8.30 in the morning but barely 5-6 minutes after taking off, we heard a loud bang immediately after which the helicopter dipped by 15 m. Almost within a minute of hearing that sound, our chopper landed. The pilot handled the situation quite efficiently." said the JD(U) President.
"The pilot informed me that a few centimetres of the lower portion of one of the two blades had come off. Had the chopper been at a higher altitude, there was a possibility of the entire blade coming off and it would have been quite dangerous," he added.
When contacted, state Road Construction Minister Prem Kumar said, "We heard a sound in the tail fan of the wobbling chopper and the pilots soon decided to make an emergency landing." (Read: Bihar govt given 15 days to clear Patna airport runway)
The pilot reported the technical problem to the Air Traffic Control in Patna and landed the helicopter in a field at Jakkanpur.
Yadav was going to Chausa to attend a function for inauguration of a road bridge by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Yadav, who is the President of the Janata Dal (United), two pilots, and three other passengers, are safe.
"We took off around 8.30 in the morning but barely 5-6 minutes after taking off, we heard a loud bang immediately after which the helicopter dipped by 15 m. Almost within a minute of hearing that sound, our chopper landed. The pilot handled the situation quite efficiently." said the JD(U) President.
"The pilot informed me that a few centimetres of the lower portion of one of the two blades had come off. Had the chopper been at a higher altitude, there was a possibility of the entire blade coming off and it would have been quite dangerous," he added.
When contacted, state Road Construction Minister Prem Kumar said, "We heard a sound in the tail fan of the wobbling chopper and the pilots soon decided to make an emergency landing." (Read: Bihar govt given 15 days to clear Patna airport runway)
The pilot reported the technical problem to the Air Traffic Control in Patna and landed the helicopter in a field at Jakkanpur.
Yadav was going to Chausa to attend a function for inauguration of a road bridge by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
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