CHENNAI: An Indian Air Force helicopter from the Tambaram station made a forced landing at vacant land in Salavakkam in Kancheepuram district on Wednesday.

Around 10 am on Wednesday, the villagers of Salavakkam noticed a helicopter hovering in the air for an unusually long time. A little while later, it landed on vacant land near a Saibaba temple in the locality.

Surprised by the unusual sight, a large number of local people rushed in to take a closer look at the helicopter. However, a team from Salavakkam police station immediately rushed there and made the public stay at a distance.

The police said that the helicopter from the Tambaram Air Force station was out on a morning training sortie. During the training session, it developed a technical snag, forcing the pilot to make a forced landing in the four-acre vacant land in Salavakkam.

Later, technicians from the IAF station arrived at the spot on another helicopter and began to attend to the fault. After 1 pm, the technical snag was addressed and the helicopter took off from Salavakkam and returned to Tambaram station.