IAF Mi-8 makes emergency landing on tank bed

TUMKUR: An Mi-8 Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter made an ‘emergency’ landing on the bed of Amanikere big tank here on Wednesday afternoon. It was around 2 pm that the chopper (Z 2364), carrying nine crew members, circled over the mini Vidhana Soudha searching for a suitable surface to land upon, ultimately landing on the tank bed.The aircraft landed safely, with no reports of damage to the helicopter or the crew members. The chopper had taken off from its base in Belgaum and was on its way to the Yelahanka base in Bangalore, sources said.Soon after the landing, Tumkur police cordoned off the area with a platoon of District Armed Reserve. Tumkur Superintendent of Police T R Suresh, quoting the crew, told Express that the aircraft had developed a technical snag which forced the emergency landing to take place.The crew members called technical experts from the Yelahanka base, who arrived along with a fuel tanker by evening. They examined the aircraft, fuelled it, and it took off at around 6 pm.The Indian Air Force officials at the spot declined to interact with the media.However, defence PRO Wing Commander Galway, speaking to Express over the phone from New Delhi asserted that there was nothing wrong with the aircraft. “It is an Mi-8 okay air craft. Due to bad weather, it had made a precautionary landing and it was waiting for the situation to improve in order to take off,” Galway maintained.Eye witnesses said that the aircraft was ‘dangerously’ flying around for a while. It would have got entangled in wet mud if it had landed anywhere else on the same tank bed, a police official said. With many versions circulating, the real reason behind the ‘emergency’ landing remains unknown.