Two copters make emergency landing near Ludhiana

Nurmahal (Punjab), May 31 : Two MI-17 helicopters of the India Air Force (IAF) had to make an emergency landing at Gumtala village near Ludhiana after they developed technical snags in their engines.

The helicopters were on a routine sortie between the Pathankot Air Force Base and another base near Ludhiana in Punjab.

One of the helicopters was forced to land in the fields after it developed a snag during flight in the afternoon; the other helicopter landed nearby for the provision of aid.

Wing Commander R.B.Singh along with his co-pilot and two others were on the helicopter and were in contact with the Halwara Air Force Base.AF officials said the crew of both helicopters were safe.

On hearing the news, villagers hurried to the spot to help the crew.

"We came from a village on hearing about the helicopter. The incident (emergency landing) happened around one o'clock. Earlier, it was a bit lower, but then, we saw it landing in the village," said Sanjeev Kumar, a villager at the site.

Others were also clueless about the incident, but flocked to the venue out of curiosity.

" The plane has landed. We have come to see it. I don't know what has happened. I don't know what the problem is," said Shyam Singh

On being informed about the incident, the officer in charge of the Bilga Police Station, Nirmal Singh, rushed to the spot with other police personnel.

Captain Vikram Singh, the Chief Operational Officer of the Indian Air Force in the area, has assessed the situation, but refused to make any statement.

Meanwhile, IAF officers said that if the weather is fine, the technical faults would be fixed sooner than later.

ANI