IAF's Mirage 2000 jet successfully test lands on Yamuna Expressway

NEW DELHI: In an attempt to practise using highways for emergency landings, an IAF Mirage 2000 jet successfully test landed on the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

According to IAF, the aircraft made a practise approach on the highway, coming down to a height of 100 metres before landing off the next approach. "The operations were conducted with active support from the government of Uttar Pradesh, Yamuna Expressway Authority, toll authorities of JP Infratech and Civil Police," IAF said.

The IAF has plans to activate more such stretches on highways in the future.





At present, countries such as Germany, Poland, Sweden, South Korea, Taiwan, Finland, Switzerland, Poland, Singapore, Czechoslovakia and Pakistan have dedicated stretches on their expressways and highways for airplanes to land and take off in case of an emergency.





Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) is set to build a two-km long special stretch on the upcoming Agra-Lucknow expressway for the landing and takeoff of Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter and cargo planes in case of an emergency.

At present, the width of the six-lane expressway is 110 meter, which can be expanded to eight lanes in future based on requirements. Already four townships and two big agricultural mandis are planned along the expressway.



Watch: IAF's Mirage 2000 successfully test lands on Yamuna Expressway



About 8,500 acres of land will be required for the entire expressway out of which more than 7,000 acres or 85% has already been acquired. The construction work is being carried out simultaneously at five places—Lucknow, Unnao, Firozabad, Kannauj and Agra. The expressway is being built by five different developers — PNC Infratech (Agra-Firozabad), Afcons Infrastructure (Firozabad-Etawah), Nagarjuna Construction Company (Etawah-Kannauj), Afcons Infrastructure (Kannauj-Unnao) and L&T (Unnao-Lucknow).

(With inputs from TNN)