Helicopter Lands on Mantri Apartment

 A HAL helicopter on a training sortie made an emergency landing on the terrace of a five-storey residential apartment building after it developed engine trouble mid-air in an incident described as bizarre.

Both the pilot and the trainee on board are safe, authorities said, adding there was no threat to people on the ground or any damage to the building in Malleshpalya area after the mishap.

Police and other officials around a trainer helicopter of HAL which made an emergency landing on the roof of an apartment in Byapanahalli area in Bengaluru on Thursday. PTI

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Rotary Wing Academy’s Schweizer-300C helicopter, flown by Air Commodore (Retd) Roj Assey along with trainee Capt Digvijay Singh took-off at 1430 hours and flew for 2 hours and 10 minutes before the emergency landing.

“There are no damages to the building. Both the pilot and trainee are safe and helicopter sustained some damage,” an official of the city-headquartered HAL, a defence PSU, said.

The Air Commodore controlled the helicopter to make an emergency landing on top of the building as there was no open place available nearby, where he could have landed immediately, he said.

The cause of emergency landing is being ascertained, the official said, adding it was apparently engine failure as per the pilot’s statement. It was a “very light helicopter” and was about four-years-old and was being used for civilian training, he said.

Residents of Maitri apartment, who were inside their flats, heard a “very loud sound” which made them rush to the terrace only to find the chopper there to their amusement.

“We saw smoke after the helicopter landed in a thud,” said Aastha, who watched the incident in horror from the balcony of her home, about 100 metres near the residential apartment.

Besides police, fire force and HAL officials rushed to the spot, where curious residents had gathered on rooftops of adjoining buildings.

The Director General of Civil Aviation officials will inspect the site, police officials said.

Police and residents said the incident was bizarre.

HAL authorities were examining options to pull the chopper out like dismantling it or using another chopper.