A trainee helicopter pilot made an emergency landing on the rooftop of an apartment building in a busy residential district in southern India on Thursday after developing engine trouble. Residents of Byappanahalli area in Bangalore said they were shocked to see the chopper flying low and landing on the rooftop of the high-rise.
"It landed with a huge thud," one witness told a local news channel. "We saw the smoke first and then there was a loud noise." Police said the two occupants of the helicopter were unhurt in the incident that they described as "bizarre." "There was a technical problem with the engine. The pilot was trying to make a safe landing at a nearby airstrip but landed on the rooftop," a police officer at the scene said. The helicopter was lying on its side on the apartment rooftop.