Kumaraswamy rushed to hospital after his chopper makes emergency landing

Speculation was rife over Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s safety after he was rushed to a hospital immediately after the helicopter carrying him to Bijapur was forced to return to Bangalore within minutes after take-off.

Though the Chief Minister’s office clarified that Kumaraswamy had to return to Bangalore as the HAL helicopter carrying him developed mid-air technical snags, the manner in which the Chief Minister was rushed to Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology soon after the emergency landing added grist to the rumour mills.

The Chief Minister took off in the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv from HAL’s helicopter division at Bangalore airport on Tuesday to participate in a series of programmes to be held in Bijapur. But, within minutes after take-off and flying for a distance of about 25 kilometres, the helicopter developed a technical snag.

According senior officials from HAL, the helicopter developed vibrations and the pilot chose to safely return to Bangalore and make an emergency landing at Jakkur airfield on the outskirts of Bangalore. Three crewmembers and an official from the Chief Minister’s office were on board the helicopter.

Soon after the forced landing, the Chief Minister is understood to have developed chest pain and complained of giddiness. He was rushed to Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, where his brother-in-law and cardiologist Dr Manjunath attended on him. “It was a routine check-up at the hospital and there is nothing serious”, officials from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat told reporters.

With speculation over the real cause for his sudden return continuing in the media and political circles, Kumaraswamy himself attributed the emergency landing to a technical snag in the helicopter. “It was a providential escape. I am thankful to God”, he said. Chief Minister’s office corroborated Kumaraswamy’s statement by adding that the helicopter was unstable giving the Chief Minister some tense moments until it landed.

A technical team from HAL has already initiated a probe into the reasons that forced the pilot to immediately ground the chopper.

A section of the media has quoted hospital sources and claimed that the Chief Minister felt uneasy during the flight and the staff accompanying him suggested cancellation of the visit to Bijapur.