Cheetah helicopter on COVID-19 duty makes emergency landing on highway near Hindon

A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) made an emergency landing on a highway near Hindon in Ghaziabad after developing a technical snag on Thursday, a military official said.

The helicopter was on its way to Chandigarh from Hindon on a COVID-19 mission to bring test samples from Leh.

An IAF spokesperson said the chopper developed a technical snag and carried out a safe landing on the Outer Ring Road highway near Hindon.

"The actions taken by the pilots were prompt and correct. No damage to any property has been reported," he said.

The official said a recovery aircraft was launched immediately from Hindon following the incident, adding that the chopper was brought back to the airbase "promptly and safely".

The IAF has deployed a sizeable number of its transport aircraft and helicopters for ferrying medical equipment to remote areas.

It is also transporting test samples of suspected cases from far-flung areas to various cities having laboratories to examine them.