Uttar Pradesh, April 16: A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Air Force made a precautionary landing today on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh.  According to an ANI update, the chopper has now returned to Hindon airbase from where it had taken off.

The helicopter was headed to Chandigarh with medical samples made an emergency landing on Outer Ring Road, after facing a technical snag. The chopper was proceeding from Hindon to Chandigarh on a COVID-19 task of carrying test samples of Leh. Indian Army Cheetah Helicopter Crashes in Jammu's Reasi, Pilots Safe.

According to an IANS report, no damage to any property has been reported. Recovery aircraft was launched immediately from Hindon. "The aircraft was rectified and recovered back promptly and safely at Hindon,” the statement by IAF said.

Here's the tweet shared by ANI of Cheetah Helicopter Making Emergency Landing:

In February this year, an Indian Army Cheetah chopper crash-landed near the Reasi district in Jammu. Both the pilots were reported to be safe in the incident. The Cheetah Helicopter (identical to LAMA SA 315B Helicopter of Eurocopter, France) is a high-performance helicopter designed for operation over a very wide range of weight, centre of gravity and altitude conditions.

On the other hand, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has increased to 12, 380 on Thursday and the death toll has jumped to 414. On account of the rising numbers, PM Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown till May 3.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2020 10:50 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).