Sunday, October 09, 2011

Rough weather behind white chopper’s ‘mystery’ landing

MUMBAI: The "mysterious" white helicopter which sparked off an air alert on Saturday after its brief landing along the Ratnagiri coast has been identified as one belonging to a private firm. The chopper had sent officials in a tizzy as two men had alighted and inspected the area during its seven-minute stay on the shore near Dapoli.

Ratnagiri police said investigations have shown the helicopter belongs to Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd (GVHL) which offers offshore transportation services to the oil and gas sector.

Superintendent of police (Ratnagiri) Pradeep Raskar said, "Based on the information and with the help of the air traffic control (ATC), we traced the helicopter. It was in Ratnagiri for 10 minutes due to bad weather and then it flew to Mumbai. The chopper was from Belgaum in Karnataka and was heading towards Juhu aerodrome."

The helicopter, VT-AZX, was conducting an aerial shoot in Karnataka. "A camera had been mounted on the chopper's nose for the shoot. The pilot decided to land in Ratnagiri due to bad weather. Technicians on board the helicopter dismantled the camera from the nose while the aircraft was on ground. It landed in Mumbai at 5.30 pm,'' an investigating officer said .

After a preliminary inquiry, GVHL was given a clean chit. The Mumbai police, however, have asked the ATC to submit a report by Monday.

A GVHL spokesperson said, "The aerial shoot was being conducted only after obtaining clearance from the ministry of defence and the directorate general of civil aviation with a nominated security officer on board. After completion of the shoot, the chopper was on its way back to its base in Juhu via Belgaum. There were four passengers on board, including a helicopter engineer and the film crew. After take-off from Belgaum, the weather turned bad. It was drizzling and visibility was poor. To be on the safe side, the pilot diverted the helicopter towards the west to come out of the hilly terrain and flew towards Ratnagiri. He made a precautionary landing along the Ratnagiri coast."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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