helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft.

While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a
fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where such aircraft can
land safely.

Larger helipads, intended for use by helicopters and other vertical take-off and landing aircraft, may be
called vertiports. An example is Vertiport Chicago,[1] which opened in 2015.[2]

Usage Edit

There is a helipad in the back of this U.S. Navy Strategic Sealift Ship.

Helipads may be located at a heliport or airport where fuel, air traffic control and service facilities for
aircraft are available.

Most helipads are located remote from populated areas due to sounds, winds, space and cost
constraints, however, some skyscrapers maintain a helipad on their roofs in order to accommodate air
taxi services. Some basic helipads are built on highrise buildings for evacuation in case of a major fire
outbreak. Major police departments may use a dedicated helipad at heliports as a base for police
helicopters.

Large ships and oil platforms usually have a helipad on board for emergency use. In such a case, the term
"helideck" or "helodeck" has been widely used in the meaning of a helipad on board.

Helipads are common features at hospitals where they serve to facilitate medical evacuation or air
ambulance transfers of patients to trauma centers or to accept patients from remote areas without local
hospitals or facilities capable of providing the level of emergency medicine required. In urban
environments, these heliports are typically located on the roof of the hospital.
Rooftop helipads sometimes display a large two-digit number, reprPakistani War of 1971, produced and
directed by J. P. Dutta. The film starred an ensemble cast of Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna,
Jackie Shroff in pivotal roles. The film is an adaptation from real life events that happened at the Battle of
Longewala during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The film was screened retrospective on August 13th
2016 at the Independence Day Film Festival jointly presented by the Indian Directorate of Film Festivals
and Ministry of Defense, commemorating 70th Indian Independence Day.[2] It was the highest grossing
Bollywood film of the year 1997.[3]

Synopsis Edit

The film opens before the declaration of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. At a forward operating airbase,
Indian Air Force Wing Commander Anand 'Andy' Bajwa, setting his stopwatch, waits for the air raid siren
to go. As the siren goes, he sprints towards his MiG-21, armed, fuelled and ready for take off. Bajwa and
his air force wingmen soon take off to an unknown airbase in Rajasthan. Once there, he is debriefed by
his superior that he and his squadron are assigned to the Jaisalmer sector and have to fly the outdated
Hawker Hunter Ground attack planes (with no night vision capabilities) to support the Indian Army. He is
soon joined by his brother-in-arms army Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri (played by Sunny Deol) as they
meet on a courier flight and speak about the possibility of opening of the Western front in light of the
East Pakistan conflict. Kuldip takes up command of a company of the 23rd Battalion Punjab Regiment,
arguing the light defence being assigned to the military post of Longewala. He meets his second-in-
command 2nd Lieutenant Dharamveer Bhan (Akshaye Khanna) (who happens to be the son of a 1965
Indo-Pakistani War veteran who was killed during that war) and the Company JCO Naib Subedar Mathura
Das (Sudesh Berry). The company moves to a remote outpost in the deserts of Rajasthan and begin to
expand the rudimentary Border Security Force (BSF) post and does observation of the area up to the
international border with Pakistan. They meet the post's BSF commandant Bhairon Singh (Sunil Shetty), a
deeply patriotic man who expresses his love for the desert.

During a night patrol, Kuldip, Dharamveer and Bhairon Singh come across a suspicious bunch of locals
who turn out to be insurgents having informed the identities of the company to the Pakistani military.
The trio get into a brief firefight killing all but one of the insurgents when Dharamveer hesitates to shoot
the surviving insurgent, as he has never killed anyone. Kuldip severely derides him and shoots the
insurgent himself, prompting Dharamveer to vomit. A badly shaken Dharamvir is comforted by Bhairon
Singh and the two reminisce about their personal lives. Dharamveer recounts how he met his fiancee
Kamla (Pooja Bhatt), a lively girl from his native village whom he had fallen for and how he got his
mobilization orders on the day of his engagement to Kamla. Bhairon Singh recounts his wedding night,
his first night with his bride (played by Sharbani Mukherjee), when he was called back to post and how
he bids a tearful goodbye to his newly-wed wife Phool Kanwar.
The unit is joined by the charismatic Subedar Ratan Singh (Puneet Issar), a man of insatiable appetite
and wit, with two 106mm jeep-mounted RCL guns to serve as an anti-armour unit. The company wireless
operator picks up a spy transmitting from a nearby area and Dharamveer sets out to investigate. He
ambushes the spy and kills the man, bringing the body back to the post to prove that he has overcome
his fear of killing. The unit settles down to wait for the enemy as they keep track of the developing
events on the radio. The Indian army starts moving forces to nearby locations preparing to attack if Pakist