Abhay Chautala’s chopper makes emergency landing

THE EMERGENCY LANDING TOOK PLACE BARELY 10 MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF FROM A GROUND IN SECTOR 34, GURUGRAM

GURUGRAM: Senior Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala, the leader of opposition in the Haryana assembly, made an emergency landing at a private college compound on Friday after the helicopter he was in developed a technical fault.

No one on board the chopper received any injury.

The emergency landing took place barely 10 minutes after take-off from a ground in Sector 34, Gurugram. Chautala, along with two members of the party and his security, was heading to Jind to attend a public meeting. The helicopter took off around 9.29am and made the emergency landing around 9.38am.

“Barely three minutes after the take off, the pilot informed us of a technical fault in the engine and decided to touch down at the college ground. The pilot said it would take him one-and-a -half hours to fix the glitch and, hence, we decided to travel by road,” a close aide of Chautala said. He added that it was a minor glitch, but the pilot decided to land as a precautionary measure.

The incident was reported widely in the print and electronic media after pictures of Chautala, flanked by his party members and security escorts, and with the chopper in the background, were posted on social media websites.

Chautala’s supporters and party members were worried after learning of the incident.

Gopi Chand Gahlot, a senior INLD leader in Gurugram, said, “I wasn’t in Gurugram on Friday, but learned about the incident. I was relieved to hear that they landed safely.”