Chennai: An Indian Air Force helicopter made an emergency landing in an agricultural field at Keerapakkam in Chengalpet district on Monday morning after a technical snag during a training sortie.Vishal Bhaskar and his co-pilot were flying a Chetak helicopter (ZA 1420) on a training mission when they detected a technical glitch around 9.05am. They landed in a farm located between a large lake and the Chelliyamman Temple at Keerapakkam, near Vandalur, police sources said.The pilots immediately informed the air force station at Tambaram about the incident. Three air force helicopters later arrived at the site and circled overhead for about an hour as part of the recovery operation. They landed one after another, unloaded equipment required for repairs, and departed around 10am. Engineers worked on the helicopter for nearly two hours. By noon, the technical fault had been rectified, after which the helicopter was flown back to the Tambaram air force station.The incident drew large crowds that were dispersed by police from Kayar station. A local man, Jagan Rajendran, heading for work, spotted the helicopter and informed others. “If the helicopter was to suffer a technical failure while flying over populated areas or quarry zones, it could be difficult to make a safe emergency landing,” said a resident.
