QUETTA: The government of Balochistan admitted on Thursday that the pilot of the helicopter that wasted flour bags meant for flood relief by dropping them from a great height, was forced to do so as he could not find a safe spot to land.

Balochistan Chief Secretary Abdul Aziz Uqaili said the provincial government’s chopper was trying to drop relief supplies in the Hanna Urak area, a locality on the outskirts of Quetta.

“We do not deny that a few bags dropped from the helicopter were wasted during one of the sorties in the area, as it was a difficult mountainous area and there was no place to land.”

He said that after a video of the pilot’s actions went viral, the government summoned the chief pilot to raise the issue with him.

According to the secretary, the pilot admitted that during one of the sorties, a few bags were dropped from a great height which resulted in them being wasted. However, he claimed, it was not possible for the helicopter to land or fly low in that area due to difficult mountainous terrain.

He said that after dropping a few bags, the pilot returned to the same area and carefully dropped relief goods by bringing the helicopter to a lower level and hovering in position.

Commander Tanveer, who is the chief pilot of the Balochistan government’s helicopter, told Dawn that the chopper was flying relief missions from the very first day and carrying out two to three sorties daily.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2022