Bangalore: Finally, Chopper Brought Down from Building Terrace
Bangalore, Apr 14 (DHNS): After struggling for about four hours, a group of HAL technicians finally managed to bring the chopper, which made an emergency landing atop an apartment at GM Palya, down safely on Friday.
The Schweizer-300C helicopter had landed on the terrace at 4.40 pm on Thursday, and it was brought to the ground after almost 28 hours. The helicopter weighing about 500-kg was finally brought down at 6.55 pm.
The crane employed to bring the chopper down also faced a few technical snags. The decision to bring the helicopter down using a crane was based on the advice of the DGCA officials. While some of the delicate parts of the chopper were dismantled and brought down manually, the main body of the aircraft along with the engine needed a crane.
After shifting the chopper to the corner of the terrace, as it had tilted with its rotor blades and hit the parapet wall of the apartment, HAL technicians emptied the fuel tank and removed the blades, tyres and side doors of the chopper.
Following this, the crane began its operations and failed the first time due to a hydraulic snap. After rectifying it, the operator hooked the chopper on to the crane and began lowering it. It had to be lifted above the height of the parapet wall before bringing it down.
A HAL truck was stationed adjacent to the crane so as to transport the helicopter on it.
When the chopper was almost on the truck, at 6 pm, the crane developed another snag and could not lower the aircraft further. After several attempts, another taller truck was summoned.
After 30 minutes, the aircraft was placed on the truck. However, the second truck was not equipped to transport it. Finally, by 7 pm, the crane lifted the chopper back to the first truck and transported to Rotary Wing Academy of the HAL.
However, it was an entertaining evening for the onlookers and residents of the apartment, who witnessed the event in full attendance.
While HAL claimed that the emergency landing of the helicopter had not caused any damage to the building, residents of the apartment have sought an acknowledgement. A resident of the apartment said the apartment’s association had written to the HAL seeking an acknowledgement that the helicopter landed here and that there were some damage.