Chopper lands in cricket stadium, triggers chaos

Chopper lands in cricket stadium, triggers chaos
In a glaring error, a Himachal Pradesh government's helicopter, which was to touch down at a police ground in Una, landed on Saturday at a nearby stadium where a cricket match was in progress sparking panic and chaos.

The chopper was on a trial run from Shimla to Jhalede Police Ground in the district where Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was to participate in a function two days later, SP (Una) V Venugopal said.

The helicopter landed at the Indira Stadium when a Deodhar Trophy cricket match between Punjab and Services was underway triggering panic and chaos as players ran helter-skelter, he said.

The match was stopped for 15 minutes as confusion reigned supreme, the SP said adding no one was, however, injured in the incident. After the pilot realised his mistake, the copter took off for its correct destination and touched down at Jhaleda Police Ground, the SP said.

Only the pilot and co-pilot were on board the copter which was on a trial sortie ahead of Dhumal's visit to the district, he said. The pilot was new on the route and inadvertently landed at the stadium, the SP said.

source