Prez Droupadi Murmu’s helicopter wheels sink into newly concreted landing pad 

President Droupadi Murmu’s helicopter wheels got stuck in soft concrete at a newly built helipad in Pathanamthitta. The last-minute change from Nilackal to Pramadam due to weather caused the issue. She continued her Sabarimala journey by road

Pathanamthitta: The wheels of the helicopter which carried President Droupadi Murmu for her Sabarimala visit got stuck in a depression in the newly concreted helipad at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Pramadam here when it landed on Wednesday morning.

After the President left for Pamba by road, visuals on TV channels showed several policemen and fire force personnel pushing the helicopter’s wheels out of the small depressions created when it landed on the concrete.

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A senior police officer of the district said that the stadium was fixed as the location for landing the helicopter at the last moment and therefore, the helipad was created there late on Tuesday.

The landing was originally planned at Nilackal near Pamba, but it was changed to Pramadam due to inclement weather.

“The concrete had not set completely and therefore, it could not handle the helicopter’s weight when it landed and depressions were formed where the wheels touched the ground,” the officer said.

The President, who arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday evening for a four-day official visit to the southern state, left for Pathanamthitta district, where the hill shrine is located, this morning.

From Pramadam, Murmu is travelling to Pamba, the foothills of Sabarimala, via road.