Daijiworld Media Network - Kochi

Kochi, Apr 11: A private helicopter that was carrying the chairman of LuLu Group crash-landed in Kochi on Sunday April 11 at around 9 am.

The UAE-based businessman Yusuf Ali was with his wife and three others in the helicopter when it crashed on a marshy plot of land. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported. All the passengers are under observation at a private hospital, media reports said.

The incident occurred in the morning amid slight rainfall. The helicopter landed off the NH Bypass at Panangad, due to a technical snag. The pilot and others walked through hip-deep water. The passengers were helped by the locals who took them to the hospital.

Ali and others had boarded the helicopter from his house in Kochu Kadavanthra to visit a relative who was admitted to a nearby hospital. It was slated to land on the ground of Fisheries College, Panangad but crashed on the marshy plot around 200 m away.

Sources in Panangad police station maintained that it was a safe landing, although the busy NH Bypass, power lines and a transit mixer were located nearby. The pilot managed to land the helicopter within the compound wall of the plot.