Nita Ambani, wife of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, on Sunday had to spend two hours hovering over Chandigarh in a helicopter. The chopper, which had reached the city skies by 9.45am, was not allowed to land till noon because of poor visibility.

Sunil Dutt, director, Chandigarh airport, said the chopper couldn’t land because visibility at the airport was 1,000 metres. Aircraft belonging to several airlines had to return to Delhi. 

However, sources said the chopper couldn’t land because of a problem in the instrument landing system, which has been installed at the airport by the air force. The system helps aircraft and helicopters to land even if visibility is very low. 

When contacted, air force officials refused to comment about the condition of the system.
Nita was in Chandigarh to cheer for her Reliance One team in the JP Atray cricket tournament. She finally arrived at the Sector 16 stadium, where the tournament is under way, at around 12.45pm.

“My helicopter had reached Chandigarh on time. But I didn’t understand why the chopper kept hovering over the city instead of landing,” Nita said.