A skilled pilot of the Indian Navy rescued a woman marooned by the flood in Kerala by executing an intricate feat. Lt Commander Abhijeet Garud and his crew were distributing food and relief material and conducting rescue operations in a Seaking 42B helicopter in Chalakudy when they noticed several aged people waving from the roof of a two-storeyed building.

Garud proceeded to pick them up the usual way, by hovering over the roof while they were winched up one by one. But one of them, discovered the crew, was being carried on a chair, which meant she could not be winched up like the others.

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That was when the pilot decided to land on the roof – an extremely difficult feat to pull off. Recounting the operation – called “roof top low hover in a light on wheels” in technical terms – Garud said it was a tough call to make.

“The crew decided that all four sides were clear and slowly we started coming down,” he told The Hindu. “Now, my field of view is very limited. It was like being led blindfolded and you take each step gingerly.”

Here is a video of the usual way people were rescued from rooftops by hovering helicopters.