Air force personnel dismantle the micro-light aircraft on the bank of the Basra on Thursday. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Hamiltanganj (Alipurduar), Aug. 7: A micro-light aircraft of the Indian Air Force was forced to land on the bank of the Basra this morning after a technical snag compelled it to abandon a bird recce midway.

The two-seater aircraft had taken off from the Hashimara base of the IAF around 10am. It was on a mission to clear the sky of birds before fighter planes took off.

At 11.15am, Wing Commander Bikash Roy and co-pilot Col S. Mukherjee brought down the plane on the bank, 50m from the river. Officials from Hashimara arrived half-an-hour later and dismantled it. They took off the wings as a crowd of more than 500 people watched and loaded the aircraft on to a truck to take it to Hashimara, 8km from the spot.

Micro-light aircraft usually do not crash as they have propellers, which help them glide down in case there is a hitch in the engine. According to a senior airforce officer, micro-lights are basically adventure aircraft. “Once the engine is cut off, it can glide down on very small strips of land. Chances of crashing are little,” he said.

Policemen from Kalchini and security guards of the air force were deployed to cordon off the area around the aircraft as experts dismantled it.

Ranjit Thapa, a 25-year-old who was on his way to Hamiltanganj from Madhubagan on a bicycle, said: “I saw the plane going around in circles very fast and then land on the bank. We were on the bridge over the Basra, almost 100m from the spot. We rushed to the plane and saw both the pilots coming out. They were unhurt.”

The pilots were taken away to Hashimara before the aircraft was dismantled.

Pravin Vij, the chief operations officer of Hashimara who visited the spot, said: “Both the pilots are safe. The aircraft was on a recce to remove birds before fighter planes took off. We will send the engine for examination to find out the nature of the fault.”

Vij, however, did not disclose the take-off timings of the fighter planes.