WB CM Mamata Banerjee’s chopper makes emergency landing due to inclement weather

Banerjee was on the way to the Bagdogra airport after addressing an election rally in Jalpaiguri when her helicopter ran into bad weather

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s helicopter made an emergency landing at the Sevoke air base near Siliguri on Tuesday afternoon due to inclement weather conditions, officials said.

She was on her way to Bagdogra from where she was supposed to take a flight back to Kolkata. (Mamata Banerjee | Facebook)

The chopper took off from Jalpaiguri district where the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief had addressed a political rally ahead of the upcoming panchayat polls in the state.

She was on her way to Bagdogra from where she was supposed to take a flight back to Kolkata.

“The chief minister’s helicopter made a precautionary landing at the Sevoke Military Station at Salugara,” said an army official.

The passengers, including the chief minister in the helicopter, were safe. The pilot made a safe landing on the airstrip at Salugara near Siliguri.

When the aircraft was somewhere around the Baikunthapur forest, it met with a thunderstorm. The pilot had to change course and land the aircraft safely at the defence airstrip.

“The captain decided to go for a precautionary landing following heavy rainfall over the forest area,” said the official.

Banerjee later left for Bagdogra airport around 15km from the army base.

Voting for panchayat polls in the state will take place on July 8.

Around 5.67 crore voters are set to vote to elect nearly 75,000 candidates in zilla parishads, panchayat samiti and gram panchayats.

The counting for the single-phase elections will be held on July 11.