MA Yusuff Ali, other passengers 'perfectly safe' after helicopter emergency landing

Dubai - Lulu Group official says the aircraft had to make an emergency landing because of the adverse weather conditions.

A helicopter carrying Indian business tycoon M.A. Yusuff Ali, and six others, made an emergency landing in Kochi, Kerala, confirmed top officials at Lulu.

Yusuff Ali, chairman and managing director of UAE-based Lulu Group International, was in the private helicopter that belly-landed in a swamp at Panagad near the Kerala University of Fisheries and Oceanic Studies early Sunday morning.

V Nandakumar, director, marketing and communications at Lulu Group International, told Khaleej Times: “Fortunately, he (Yusuff Ali), his wife Shabira, personal secretary Shahid PK, the pilot and co-pilot are all perfectly safe. He was on his way to meet with his uncle, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital.”

Nandakumar said the pilot of the helicopter decided to make an emergency landing due to poor weather conditions. “It was a precautionary, emergency landing; not a crash landing like how some media are calling it.