The wheels of the helicopter carrying President Droupadi Murmu for her Sabarimala visit got stuck in a depression on the newly concreted helipad at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Pramadam when it landed on Wednesday morning.

After the President left for Pamba by road, visuals on TV channels showed several policemen and fire personnel pushing the helicopter’s wheels out of the small depressions created when it landed on the concrete.

District Collector Prem Krishnan said that there were no security concerns regarding the helipad as otherwise the President’s cavalcade would have returned to Thiruvananthapuram by road. He said the helicopter had landed a few feet back from the 'H' on the helipad, but admitted that there was half-an-inch of sinking where the wheels touched the concrete.

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