The Hindu : National : IAF sets record

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 03, 2004

National

National

IAF sets record

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 2. An Air Force "Cheetal' helicopter set a new world record today by landing at an altitude of 25,150 ft. at Saserkangri, near Leh.

A news item stating that an American Bell 407 helicopter had set a world record by landing at an altitude of 22,180 ft on July 28 this year spurred the IAF and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to better the record.

This morning, at 8-45 a.m., the helicopter flown by Group Capt. A. S. Butola and Sqn. Ldr. S. Sharma, landed at Saserkangri, at an altitude of 23,220 ft (7070 mts), pressure altitude (25,150 ft density altitude). The feat was witnessed and validated by Wg. Cdr. Upadhayay (retd.), Chief Test Pilot, Rotary Wing, HAL and Wg. Cdr. Uni Pillay (retd.), flying in an IAF Dhruv helicopter.The motivation behind this attempt was that an IAF Cheetah helicopter had landed at a record density altitude of 23, 240 ft just a few months ago — not in the quest of a record, but to rescue stranded members of a mountaineering expedition.

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