IAF's Cheetah helicopter makes precautionary landing on Eastern Peripheral Expressway near Delhi

New Delhi, June 26, 2020

A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) made a precautionary landing on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway near here today after it developed a technical snag, official sources said.

The helicopter was on its way from Hindon, near here, to Halwara in Punjab for a routine Air Force task when the incident occurred, a press release from the Ministry of Defence said.

"Approximately 14 NM out of Hindon, helicopter developed technical snag and carried out precautionary landing on Eastern Peripheral Expressway.

"The actions taken by the pilots were prompt and correct. No damage to any property has been reported. Recovery helicopter was launched immediately from Hindon. The helicopter was rectified and recovered back promptly and safely at Hindon," the release added.

This is the third such incident involving IAF aircraft in recent weeks.

On April 16, a Cheetah helicopter of the IAF had made a safe emergency landing on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh while flying from Hindon to Chandigarh.

Approximately three nautical miles out of Hindon, the aircraft had developed a technical snag and carried out a safe landing on the highway.

The following day, on April 17, an Apache helicopter of the IAF had made a "precautionary" landing in a field in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab after the piltos noticed a technical glitch in the aircraft about an hour after it had taken off from the Pathankot air base.

In those incidents, too, the pilots were safe and there was no damage to any property.

NNN