President Murmu lands in Kerala, her chopper gets stuck on helipad

KOTTAYAM: The wheels of a helicopter carrying President Droupadi Murmu to Sabarimala got stuck in a depression on a helipad at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Pramadam, Pathanamthitta, when it landed on Wednesday morning.

The helipad was reportedly concreted late Tuesday night.A video of the chopper being pushed by police and fire services personnel surfaced on social media, alleging that its wheels sank in the newly laid concrete. Pathanamthitta district collector S Premkrishnan admitted “a sinking of around half-an-inch”, while SP R Anand told TOI that there was “no security lapse” in the incident.“The tail end of the chopper sank by around half-an-inch, which cannot even be called a depression, as it was fresh concrete,” said Premkrishnan.Anand said the tyre did not sink in the concrete. “Somebody took a video from a distance.The chopper landed slightly off the landing mark on the helipad, but safely, and the President left for Sabarimala. The pilot requested the uniformed personnel (present there) to push and place the helicopter correctly on the line,” he said. The President returned to Thiruvananthapuram from the same helipad at 4.15 pm.It was initially informed that Murmu would land at Nilackal, but the location was changed on Tuesday evening to Pramadom because of adverse weather. The district administration, on receiving instructions, started laying concrete on three helipads and the work got over early Wednesday morning. Markings were done by 7am. While two helicopters landed initially, the third one carrying the President landed at 8.33am.