Image used for representational purpose only.
BENGALURU: It was a rare sight for the villagers of Doddaguppi village in Kaggalipura, off Kanakapura Road on Tuesday afternoon, when they saw an Indian Army helicopter make an emergency landing on an agricultural field. The helicopter, Rudra, an armed version of HAL’s Dhruv helicopter, reportedly belonging to Army Aviation Corps, made an emergency landing around 1.15pm, due to a technical snag. However, both pilots were safe, as it was reportedly a precautionary landing.
Villagers nearby were surprised to see the chopper, its rotor blades whirring, dipping down and landing on the field. “We received a call from someone, saying that an Army helicopter had landed on a field that belongs to a farmer. We rushed to the spot, and found onlookers taking photographs and videos of the helicopter,” explained a police officer from Kaggalipura police station.
Police and technical support teams rushed to the spot, and police later confirmed that the crew was safe.
The spokesperson for HAL -- which developed Rudra, and is building some more copters for the Army and Air Force -- said that a technical team from HAL reached the site, to provide support.
Rudra is an armed version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Dhruv, indigenously developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Army. The chopper that was involved in Tuesday’s precautionary landing was brought back to HAL airport, from where it had taken off, and HAL engineers examined the aircraft to understand what went wrong. Sources at the airport said this chopper was part of a military squadron stationed there.
“The aircraft was brought back with the help of HAL engineers, who were rushed to the site of the precautionary landing,” said Gopal Sutar, chief of Media Communications for HAL. The helicopter belonged to the Indian Army, however, there was no comment on the incident from the Ministry of Defence. Last Friday, a Mirage-2000 crashed during takeoff at HAL airport. Both pilots succumbed to injuries.
