Chhattisgarh minister's chopper makes precautionary landing

A helicopter carrying Chhattisgarh Agriculture and Water Resource Minister Brijmohan Agrawal made a “precautionary landing” at the Swami Vivekanand airport here today after an engine snag was detected.

Agrawal and two of his associates were on board the state chopper, which took off from Police Parade Grounds here at around noon for the naxal-affected Narayanpur district, a senior police official told PTI.

The minister was to take part in a programme of government campaign – Lok Suraaj Abhiyan - at Kukrajhor village under Narayanpur police station limits.

The pilot detected the problem in one of the two engines after being airborne for around 20-25 minutes and decided to return. The copper landed at the Raipur airport at about 12:40 PM, the official said. The exact technical fault will be known after the complete examination of the flying machine, he added.

The minister’s programme was rescheduled and he was later flown to Jagdalpur district headquarters in a state plane, the official added.