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C-130J aircraft at Emergency Landing Facility near Barmer, Rajasthan
HIGHWAYS FOR EMERGENCY LANDING Emergency landing strips on national highways are relevant from the point of view of air safety for operational missions undertaken by combat aircraft of the IAF especially during war
Photograph: SpokespersonMoD / Twitter
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd) On Thursday, September 9 this year, a C-130J Super Hercules, a four engine tactical transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF), carried out a trial landing on the Satta-Gandhav stretch of the National Highway-925 in the Barmer sector in Rajasthan. The emergency landing strip which is on the National Highway-925, is a three kilometre of road length on the newly developed section of the two-lane paved shoulder of the Satta-Gandhav stretch of NH-925.This portion of the highway has been designated as an “Emergency Landing Facility” for aircraft of the IAF. This emergency landing strip is just 40 km from the border with Pakistan.
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ISSUE 9 • 2021
This landing exercise conducted by the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft of the IAF on September 9, 2021, became all the more significant as the aircraft was carrying a number of VIPs on board that included the Minister of Defence, Rajnath Singh, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, Nitin Gadkari, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat and the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria. The presence of the large number of high profile VIPs on board the C-130 Super Hercules aircraft is clear evidence of the high level of confidence the IAF had on the capability of the aircraft to carry out a safe landing on the highway.
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