A bolt from the blue for Ambala villagers

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, April 24

Panic gripped residents of Rolan village in Ambala Cantonment early this morning after two fuel drop tanks of a Jaguar aircraft fell in two fields of the village.

Sources said at 4.18 am, a Jaguar aircraft was flying over Rolan village when one of the engines developed a snag after a bird reportedly hit it. The pilot had to detach two fuel drop tanks of the plane to reduce its weight and go in for an emergency landing at the Ambala Air Force Station. Due to its higher fuel consumption, the aircraft carries fuel drop tanks.

The sources said the plane was on its routine exercise when the incident occurred. The tanks were empty when they were detached. The pilot and the aircraft landed safely. Since the tanks were dropped in empty fields, there was no damage.

Villagers said they heard a loud noise early in the morning and saw a plane flying low. After seeing the aircraft drop the tanks, the villagers panicked and shut themselves inside their houses.

The sarpanch of the village informed the SHO of the Mahesh Nagar police station, who reached the spot with his team.

Jasbir Singh, a former sarpanch of Rolan village, said, “We heard a loud noise in the morning. When I came out, I saw an aircraft flying very low; it dropped two objects, one of which fell near a house in the fields, and then flew away. Fortunately, there was no loss of property.”

While one tank was dropped in an empty wheat field, the second was dropped in an empty sugarcane field. The fields belong to Inderjeet Singh and Amarjeet Singh.

Later, villagers came out and gathered near the tanks. Air Force officials reached soon and asked the villagers to move away from the site.

After completing the formalities, the Air Force officials took the tanks back to the Air Force Station around 8 am.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ambala Cantonment, Ram Kumar said, “Fuel tanks of an aircraft were dropped in the fields. No injury or damage has been reported. The matter is being looked into by Air Force officials.”

What happened

• At 4.18 am, a Jaguar aircraft flying over Rolan village in Ambala Cantt develops a snag after reportedly being hit by a bird 
• The pilot detaches two fuel drop tanks to reduce weight and goes for emergency landing at the Ambala Air Force Station
• Villagers hear a loud noise and see a plane flying low drop fuel tanks in empty fields. Panic-struck, they rush indoors