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Hyderabad, Telangana, India
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Sunday, July 10, 2011

‘President’s chopper should be flown low'

President Pratibha Patil might have been the first woman to an Air Force fighter jet. However, bad weather might force Air Force officials to operate her chopper around 500 feet from ground level.After the death of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy in a chopper crash due to bad weather, officials are leaving no stone unturned with trial runs undertaken with the IAF chopper twice in a day. “By current reports, it is favourable to run chopper at least 500 feet over surface. The pilot of the IAF chopper is in touch with us since the past one week obtaining latest weather updates. Even though there are no traces of cumulonimbus clouds at present, clouds are likely to form in two days due to the low-pressure trough formed between Orissa and south Tamil Nadu is likely to cause rain across Telangana and coastal Andhra Pradesh,” said S Venkateswara Rao, assistant meteorologist, who provides weather updates to IAF officials.President Pratibha Patil arrived on Saturday on a six-day state visit. She will participate in an interactive session with the students of Indian School of Business on Monday. She will undertake a chopper ride to visit Bharat Dynamics Limited, Kanchanbagh on July 5. On July 6, she will leave for Tirupati to address a seminar on Women Empowerment and on July 7, president Patil will inaugurate the Annadanam Complex in Tirumala. She will leave for Mumbai in the evening.A senior police officer said they had earlier planned the president’s route-map for road travel amidst tight security. However, they changed it due to security reasons and bumpy roads. Meanwhile, as many as two choppers would escort the President’s chopper.

By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com

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