Close shave for Chirag as chopper gets stuck

PATNA: Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan had a lucky escape when the chopper in which he was travelling tilted to one side while landing, as one of its rear tyres got stuck in the wet clay on the temporary helipad constructed at Mohaddinagar under Ujiarpur parliamentary constituency of Samastipur district on Thursday evening, said party sources.

“Paswan, who had flown to Jehanabad early Thursday morning, returned to Patna to join Ram Kripal Yadav, BJP candidate from Patliputra parliamentary constituency, file his nomination papers to the returning officer. Later in the afternoon, he flew from Patna to Mohaddinagar to join Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai’s public meeting, when the mishap took place around 4.15 pm,” said Ashraf Ansari, state vice-president of the LJP (RV).

“The helicopter narrowly avoided a crash... It could have been a major mishap, as anything could have happened given the high combustibility of the aviation fuel when the Pawan Hans chopper in which Paswan was travelling tilted on landing in wet clay on the temporary helipad, with its rotors still in motion,” said Ansari.

“I am not aware about the incident,” Yogendra Singh, district magistrate of Samastipur, told Hindustan Times.

“We are responsible only for security. All we know is that Mr Paswan is safe and the chopper has flown back safely to Patna,” said Vinay Tiwari, superintendent of police, Samastipur.

A senior official of the Airports Authority of India in Patna also said that they were not aware about the incident as the location where the chopper landed was an “uncontrolled airfield” (not under air traffic control).The district administration provides back up support, including fire and security, for all such chopper or aircraft movement on uncontrolled airfields.

Lok Sabha polls in Ujiarpur are scheduled in the fourth phase on May 20.