Coast Guard chopper makes emergency landing in Maha, co-pilot hurt

An Indian Coast Guard helicopter, on a routine patrol with four crew members on board, made an emergency landing near Nandgaon beach in Raigad district of Maharashtra this afternoon, injuring a woman co-pilot, an ICG official said.
The Navy had earlier said that the helicopter had "crash landed".
The ICG official said that according to the preliminary reports, the helicopter suffered technical difficulties for around 25 minutes after it took off from the Coast Guard base in Mumbai.
"The Indian Coast Guard helicopter that took off from Mumbai for routine surveillance sortie with four crew made an emergency landing near Nandgaon Beach, Murud tehsil this afternoon," Avinandan Mitra, deputy commandant and PRO for Indian Coast Guard (West), said in a statement.

"The pilot- Deputy Commandant Balwinder Singh- managed to land the helicopter by avoiding populated places and the sea. Assistant Commandant Penny Choudhary received some injury in the incident, but nobody else was injured. All were taken to the naval hospital 'Asvini' at Mumbai for treatment and medical checkup," he said.
Other two members were identified as Pradhan Navik (P/Nvk) Sandeep Singh and Navik (Nvk) Baljeet Singh, the officer said, adding that all four were evacuated by the Navy and the Air Force.

"The preliminary report says that the crew experienced technical difficulties for 25 minutes after taking off," he said.

Asked about the damage to the helicopter, a senior ICG official said, "The rotors of the chopper and its machinery are intact. The tail rotor is slightly bent. Except the right wheel area, no part has broken off. We need to carry out a thorough inspection."
He said that the chopper is most likely to be airlifted from the site.
The ICG statement lauded pilot Balwinder Singh for his presence of mind and "special skills" in avoiding the landing of the helicopter in crowded places and the sea.
Earlier, the Western Naval Command had said in a statement, "A Chetak helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard, during a routine patrol off the coast south of Mumbai, crash landed six nautical miles north of Murud near Alibaug at 1448 hours today."

A naval officer said the Navy launched two Chetak helicopters and a Seaking 'C' chopper on a search and rescue mission and located the ICG helicopter.
One ICG Chetak helicopter and an Air Force Mi-17 chopper were also part of the search operation, the officer said.