President Pratibha Patil had a narrow escape today when the blades of an Indian Air Force helicopter in which she was travelling hit the cement wall of an abandoned building inside the Bhubaneswar airport while landing. The President was returning from Puri after having a darshan of Lord Jagannath and inaugurating an urban haat there.
Nine persons including Patil, her husband Devisingh Shekhawat and the Orissa governor M C Bhandare were inside the chopper when the incident happened. However, no body was hurt in the mishap which took place at 5 pm in the evening. Official sources said, the chopper was taxing on the runway after landing when its blades brushed against the wall of an abandoned hangar of the airport.
The chopper was unstable for a moment before coming to halt safely, said Archana Dutta, press secretary to the President.
She said, Patil and others in the chopper were fine and she walked to her official car after the incident and drove to Rajbhavan where she is carrying on with her evening engagements. Sources said, while one of the four blades of the chopper has been completely damaged, the other three have been bent due to the impact.
Meanwhile, the secretary to the president, Christi Fernandes has spoken to defence secretary, Pradeep Kumar on the incident and requested him to institute an inquiry into it. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has also initiated a preliminary investigation into the incident. The negligence of the pilot has been found to be the reason for the incident, sources said.
