Eyewitnesses told that as soon as the helicopter entered Aurai at around 2:15 pm while dropping material from Budhangara side of Sitamarhi, its fuel pipe burst after hitting a flock of birds. Fuel started falling from the helicopter and it wobbled in the air.
An Air Force helicopter, which was distributing relief material to the flood victims in Bihar, had to make an emergency landing in water in Madhuban Besi village of Aurai block of Muzaffarpur on Wednesday. Immediately after the accident, villagers reached the spot in boats and safely evacuated the two pilots and two soldiers in the helicopter. There is a dense settlement around the incident site. There was a rural market nearby. There was a possibility of serious damage if the helicopter fell out of control. A major accident was averted due to the wisdom of the pilot.
Eyewitnesses told that as soon as the helicopter entered Aurai at around 2:15 pm while dropping material from Budhangara side of Sitamarhi, its fuel pipe burst after hitting a flock of birds. Fuel started spilling from the helicopter and it wobbled in the air. Pallat, showing immediate presence of mind, made an emergency landing of the helicopter in the flood waters on the banks of Lakhandei river. During landing, the helicopter first hit bamboo and then trees. Due to this the fan and rear part of the helicopter got damaged. Immediately after the accident, villagers reached the spot in boats and safely evacuated the two pilots and two soldiers in the helicopter.
Villagers told that a flock of birds had collided with the helicopter in Harpur Besi. Fuel leaked from the helicopter’s tank and fell on many houses. Smoke was also seen rising from the helicopter. After this he started coming down rapidly. The helicopter was trying to land while circling in the air. By then he had reached Madhuban Besi village. During this time his rear part first collided with bamboo and then trees. The pilot and soldiers were trapped in the helicopter that had landed in the flood waters. A dozen villagers immediately reached the helicopter with four boats and pulled everyone out safely. The villagers took them out and brought them to the bridge built on Lakhandei in Madhuban Besi. Meanwhile, NDRF and SDRF teams also reached the spot. All the soldiers were sent by ambulance to SKMCH in Muzaffarpur for health checkup.
After health checkup of Sabhagyi at SKMCH, she was sent to Gorakhupar by Air Force helicopter. Regarding the incident, Disaster Department Headquarters Officer Ashutosh Dwivedi and Shrikant told in SKMCH that two helicopters were deployed for flood relief in Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur. One of these had to make emergency landing in Aurai. There was no loss of life or property in the incident. At present, the incident site has been inspected by DM Subrata Kumar Sen, SSP Rakesh Kumar and Air Force officials. DSP Shahryar Khan has been deployed on the spot. On the other hand, the Air Force has posted on Twitter that due to technical reasons, emergency landing of the helicopter had to be done. Orders have been given to investigate the incident.