IAF microlite makes emergency landing

A two-seater microlite aircraft of the Indian Air force (IAF) made an emergency landing in an open ground here Sunday, police said. No one was injured.

According to a police officer, the incident took place around 10.30 a.m. in east Delhi's Shastri Park area.

The microlite, W-3413, weighing around five tonnes, landed in a Delhi Development Authority ground near Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital, police said.

"The microlite had taken off from Hindon air base (Ghaziabad) around 8.30 a.m. and was supposed to return to the base after completing its flight. However, it developed a minor technical fault and had to make an emergency landing," said the police officer.

Pilot Bidyut Ghosh and co-pilot Sumit were safe and no one on the ground was injured, police said.

"Around 10.25 a.m., I felt some technical fault in the engine of the microlite. At the time I was hovering above the DDA park. Children were playing in the park, but I found a space in a corner of the field and landed around 10.28 a.m.," Ghosh told IANS.

"After the emergency landing I called up my base camp at Hindon," Ghosh said.

As news of the emergency landing spread in the area, curious area residents gathered at the ground to catch a glimpse of the lightweight fixed-wing aircraft.

Police had a tough time managing the crowd and used ropes to cordon off the area around the aircraft and keep onlookers away from the flying machine.

Some Air Force official arrived at the spot around 1.30 p.m. and the microlite was loaded on to a truck to take it back to the Hindon air base, police said.