Army helicopter makes emergency landing near Bengaluru

An Indian Army helicopter had to make an emergency landing in an agricultural field in Thattaguppe in the Kaggalipura police station limits on the city's outskirts on Tuesday.

The chopper made the landing at about 1.15 pm. Both the pilots were safe and there was no damage to the aircraft. The trainee pilots had noticed a technical fault in the helicopter and informed the local authorities before grounding it.

A police official, based on his interactions with the pilots, later informed that a problem was detected in the engine.

The aircraft, a weaponised Mark IV version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), is attached to the Army Aviation and belongs to the series christened 'Rudra'. It is learnt that the helicopter had taken off from the HAL Airport.

Built by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Rudra was reported to be on an 'acceptance flight.' Defence officials did not specify the cause for the emergency landing but dubbed it a precautionary measure. The landing site was about 30 km off Bengaluru.

Customised for the air wing of the Indian Army, Rudras have already been inducted into service since 2013. HAL is in the process of delivering a few more ALH choppers to the Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Soon after Tuesday's incident, HAL had rushed a technical team to the site. The helicopter was subsequently flown back to the HAL Airport for further inspections.

The emergency landing comes close on the heels of the Mirage 2000 crash at the Airport, which killed both the pilots. The pilots had ejected but the parachutes caught fire, causing them fatal burns.

Another incident involving a private aircraft was reported from Pune, where the pilot was injured. The aircraft, attached to a private training institute had crashed.