New Delhi/ Bhubaneswar: President Pratibha Patil is safe after the blade of an Indian Air Force helicopter carrying her brushed against a wall while landing at the Bhubaneswar airport on Wednesday.
Patil, her husband Devisingh Shekhawat, and Orissa Governor disembarked from the chopper after the incident at around 1700 hrs IST.
Eyewitnesses said the chopper’s blade brushed against an abandoned building’s wall and was “unstable” for a while and then landed safely at the airport.
Archana Dutta, press secretary to the President, said Patil walked to her official car after the incident. "The president is fine, nothing happened to her," she said.
Three other helicopters were parked nearby and there was a risk that Patil’s chopper could have hit them, reports Karma Paljor, CNN-IBN’s aviation correspondent.
Patil visited the temple town of Puri near Bhubaneshwar during her three-day visit to the state. IANS reports the President's secretary has spoken to the Defence Ministry officials to seek an investigation into the incident and to take "appropriate action".
PTI reports the Air Force has ordered a court of inquiry. A major collision was averted at Mumbai airport on February 9 after an Air Force chopper, which was part of Patil's helicopter convoy, was given clearance to land on a runway on which an Air India flight had been cleared for take-off.
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