A helicopter carrying M.A. Yussuf Ali – chairman of the renowned Lulu Group International – his wife, and other passengers made a precautionary landing in the marshy lands of Kochi in the State of Kerala in India.
As per media reports, the helicopter landed on its belly following what is initially being touted as an ’emergency landing due to rainy weather’ – though, the cause of the precautionary landing is yet to be determined.
All passengers – including M.A. Yussuf Ali, his wife Shabira, and their personal secretary – are currently safe. The passengers were all reportedly transferred to Lakeshore Hospital in the same district after they sustained minor injuries from the incident.
Police and firefighters are currently inspecting the marshy site after the forced landing, and more details on the matter are awaited soon.
In an interview with UAE-based media house, Gulf News, V Nandakumar, the director of Marketing and Communications at Lulu, said that the incident was not a crash landing as several media houses had reported.
He was then quoted as saying: “Due to the rain, the pilot gauged that the helicopter cannot continue flying further and he opted for landing in a marshland considering the safety of the passengers and the residents in the area.”
On Friday [April 9, 2021], His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, had conferred the Abu Dhabi Awards on Yousuf Ali and 11 others.
Image courtesy: Twitter
