Kiren Rijiju escapes unhurt as chopper makes emergency landing in Arunachal Pradesh

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday had a miraculous escape when his chopper made a "preventive landing" on a small field in Arunachal Pradesh due to bad weather.

Rijiju along with seven others and crew were flying on a Mi-17 chopper from Assam's Guwahati to Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh to attend the Dree harvest festival when it faced heavy rains and fog in the afternoon.

A BSF spokesperson told DH that the chopper made a "preventive landing" as weather conditions did not allow the pilots to take it to the destination. "So it landed at an alternate place," the spokesperson said. 

Officials said the pilots, belonging to the Border Security Force (BSF), managed to manoeuvre for around 10 minutes before landing on a small field in Itanagar under emergency conditions.

"I was lucky enough to be landed safely, thanks to the BSF pilots who are very



experienced," Rijiju said. Itanagar Superintendent of Police (SP) also rushed to the spot after hearing about the development.

On February 9 this year, a BSF helicopter carrying Rijiju and seven others made a landing in emergency conditions at Hindon airbase due to engine trouble detected after being airborne for about 20 minutes. BJP MP from Tehri-Garhwal Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, two television journalists and Union Home Ministry officials were on board the Mi-17V5 chopper headed to Tehri in Uttarakhand then.

Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh tweeted, "Just spoke to @KirenRijiju ji after emergency landing in Arunachal. Me too had met a similar experience in Khasi Hills #NorthEast .Take care!"

Last week, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had a miraculous escape when pilots of BSF plane and IndiGo plane managed to avert a mid-air collusion.