'H-mark not behind copter's botched landing in Pramadom, pilot not at fault'; Air Force clarifies

PATHANAMTHITTA: Air Force sources confirmed that the helipad chosen for the helicopter carrying President Droupadi Murmu to land was flimsy. The H-mark on the helipad is not a mark for landing the helicopter. It is for the pilot to identify it as a helipad when viewed from above. It is not where the landing should be done. The allegation that the problem was caused by landing five feet away from the H-mark is baseless. There is no requirement that the landing must be in the middle of the H-mark. Every inch of the helipad should be of the same strength.

The width of the runway at airports is 150 meters. Pilots try to land the plane in the middle of the runway. However, the runway outside the middle portion was poorly set up in Pramadom. The helicopter made a botched landing as the concrete on the helipad was not firm. Army sources also clarified that there is no point in blaming the landing of an experienced pilot.

It was on Tuesday at 9 pm that the Air Force informed the state police about the change in plans. The Air Force deemed it not wise to land the helicopter in Nilakkal, considering the heavy downpour. Later, preparations began late at night for the helipad at Pramadom Stadium. Three helipads were prepared for the President to land.

The concrete at Pramadom was completed on Wednesday morning. The concrete will not harden for 12 hours. Despite being mixed with a special chemical mixture to harden, the heavy rain foiled the plans.

The helicopter was supposed to leave for Nilakkal at 9.35 am on Wednesday. Later, it was changed to 8 or 7.30 am. In case of heavy rain, the President also expressed her willingness to travel to Sabarimala by road from Thiruvananthapuram at 6 am.

The security arrangements made for the 30 km Nilakkal-Pamba route had to be suddenly extended to the 70 km route from Pramadom. 1500 police personnel were deployed. The route of the convoy was prepared. The helicopter landed at Pramadom at 8.33 am. Even in adverse weather conditions, tight security arrangements were made. The police claimed that they were able to take the President to the shrine in a special vehicle via a difficult route from Pamba.

Even though there are Bodyguards of the Army for charting the President’s programs, the onus of the security apparatus during the visit is with the state police. The bodyguards are the ones who finally decide when and where the President goes. The SPG is responsible for the complete security of the Prime Minister. The police are only responsible for providing a second layer of security.