After 26 hours and 25 minutes, the Schweizer 300C helicopter was brought down to the ground using a crane and then placed in a truck parked in a vacant plot next to the apartment.
At 11am Friday, the DGCA investigators arrived along with HAL officials. The team, which went to the terrace, examined the chopper. Air Commodore (retd) Roj Assey, who flew the helicopter, accompanied DGCA officials. The officials discussed the approach of the aircraft with him.
Around 1pm, the pilot and some HAL and DGCA officials left the building. Soon, plans were made to bring down the helicopter. The plan was to remove the delicate parts like rotors, doors and wheels. The technical team from HAL also removed the fuel and battery.
One HAL official said they had ruled out the option of another helicopter airlifting it and felt it would be safest to use a crane and bring the helicopter down. Dismantling of the parts started around 3pm. Except for the rotors, all other parts removed were taken down. A crane was then brought to the vacant land next to the building at 4.10pm. Initially, the three rotors were brought down using the crane. After a 20-minute effort, all three rotor blades were placed on the ground.
At 4.30pm started the herculean task of bringing down the helicopter. The crane had to carry at least 80% of the original weight of the helicopter as only few parts were removed. The technicians braced the rotor base of the helicopter with harnesses connected to the crane's cable. Then, orders were given to lift the helicopter at 4.46pm. Even before they could lift it, the cable broke. The first attempt had failed.
Around 5.25pm, preparations to bring it down started again. The crane operators conducted a dry run of the descent to make sure the hydraulics of the crane was intact. At 5.43pm, they were all set. Once again the cables were fixed and at 6pm, the helicopter was lifted into the air. The crane operator brought the helicopter a few metres above the ground in 20 minutes.
Technicians tried to get the helicopter into the truck in which it was to be transported. Due to technical problems, they could not place the helicopter in the truck. Finally, it was manually pulled onto the truck's platform and at 7pm, after 26 hours and 25 minutes, the chopper finally landed on ground.
At 11am Friday, the DGCA investigators arrived along with HAL officials. The team, which went to the terrace, examined the chopper. Air Commodore (retd) Roj Assey, who flew the helicopter, accompanied DGCA officials. The officials discussed the approach of the aircraft with him.
Around 1pm, the pilot and some HAL and DGCA officials left the building. Soon, plans were made to bring down the helicopter. The plan was to remove the delicate parts like rotors, doors and wheels. The technical team from HAL also removed the fuel and battery.
One HAL official said they had ruled out the option of another helicopter airlifting it and felt it would be safest to use a crane and bring the helicopter down. Dismantling of the parts started around 3pm. Except for the rotors, all other parts removed were taken down. A crane was then brought to the vacant land next to the building at 4.10pm. Initially, the three rotors were brought down using the crane. After a 20-minute effort, all three rotor blades were placed on the ground.
At 4.30pm started the herculean task of bringing down the helicopter. The crane had to carry at least 80% of the original weight of the helicopter as only few parts were removed. The technicians braced the rotor base of the helicopter with harnesses connected to the crane's cable. Then, orders were given to lift the helicopter at 4.46pm. Even before they could lift it, the cable broke. The first attempt had failed.
Around 5.25pm, preparations to bring it down started again. The crane operators conducted a dry run of the descent to make sure the hydraulics of the crane was intact. At 5.43pm, they were all set. Once again the cables were fixed and at 6pm, the helicopter was lifted into the air. The crane operator brought the helicopter a few metres above the ground in 20 minutes.
Technicians tried to get the helicopter into the truck in which it was to be transported. Due to technical problems, they could not place the helicopter in the truck. Finally, it was manually pulled onto the truck's platform and at 7pm, after 26 hours and 25 minutes, the chopper finally landed on ground.
RESCUE UNDER WAY: The chopper, which landed on top of an apartment block on Thursday, is lowered to the ground on Friday evening. Residents heaved a sigh of relief when it was finally taken away. (Above) A little girl desperately wanted to sit in the chopper and bemused security personnel gave in to her fervent pleas
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