 "Minister of State Kiren Rijiju's flight makes emergency landing in Itanagar, all safe on-board")
Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had a narrow escape on Tuesday when his Border Security Force (BSF) helicopter got trapped in rough weather and had to make an emergency landing near Itanagar, media reports said. According to India Today, The SP of Itanagar and other seniors officials were rushed to the spot within half an hour of the chopper landing. The Mi-17 helicopter with Rijiju and seven other passengers and crew members on board was flying from Guwahati to Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh when it faced heavy rains and fog this afternoon. A report by Times Now said the rescue operation was quite difficult and heavy rain, fog, and forested area made the landing a challenging task, the report said.
#ArunachalPradesh: MoS Home Kiren Rijiju's chopper makes an emergency landing in Itanagar, due to bad weather.
— ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2017
#BREAKING -- Kiren Rijiju's helicopter makes an emergency landing in Itanagar. Due to heavy rain chopper was caught in a heavy fog pic.twitter.com/1KTOUMRnBD
— News18 (@CNNnews18) July 4, 2017
Despite weather predictions, the climate took a turn for the worse and that’s when the pilot had to land the plane immediately. [caption id=“attachment_3318292” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kiren Rijiju. PTI[/caption] An
India Today report said that the helicopter’s BSF pilots manoeuvred for around 10 minutes before landing in a small field. “I was lucky enough to be landed safely, thanks to the BSF pilots who are very experienced,” Rijiju told PTI. Rijiju was travelling to Ziro to attend the Dree harvest festival. In May this year, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis survived a
major scare , when a helicopter carrying him crash-landed in Latur. Though the helicopter was damaged, Fadnavis and his aides who were travelling with him all escaped unhurt. The helicopter, which had six persons on board including two crew members, had gotten entangled in overhead wires while landing at Nilanga area where the Maharashtra chief minister had held a programme. “It was a crash-landing. When we took off, we noticed that the chopper was slanting. There was air pressure. It brushed against (electric) wires,” Fadnavis had said, after reaching Mumbai by another aircraft from Latur. With inputs from PTI
