IAF chopper makes precautionary landing in Guj after snag

Ahmedabad, Aug 06: An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter made a precautionary landing near Bhavnagar in Gujarat on Tuesday after it developed a technical snag while flying from Surat to Jamnagar, an official said.

All nine crew members on board the helicopter were safe, he said. Incidentally, the same medium lift helicopter of the South Western Air Command (SWAC) was on Monday engaged in a rescue operation in a flooded region of Mangrol taluka in Surat district, a defence spokesperson said.

"Themedium lift helicopter of SWAC encountered a technical snag and it made a safe precautionary landing 15 nautical miles south of Bhavnagar while flying from Surat to Jamnagar," he said in a statement.

"The helicopter and the crew are safe. The helicopter earlier carried out rescue missions on August 4 and August 5 in Mangrol area of Surat," he said. It made the precautionary landing at an agricultural field near Kukad village in Bhavnagar, sources said.

Earlier, following the state government's request, SWAC's helicopters were pressed into service to rescue people stranded in flooded regions of south Gujarat that received heavy rainfall on Sunday and Monday.

As many as 58 people were rescued in separate operations carried out by the IAF helicopters in Mangrol taluka of Surat and Gandevi taluka of Valsad district, another official said.