Mystery of 'helicopter' parked in Dubai basement solved

Dubai - Residents were shocked to find a helicopter parked in the basement parking.

Guests at a hotel in JLT locality were shocked to find a helicopter parked in the basement parking of the hotel, occupying parking spaces of three vehicles!
One of the visitors at the Mövenpick Hotel, JLT, said that while looking for her car parked in one of the lower basements she suddenly saw a huge blade from a distance.
"As I approached the parking space, I was shocked to see a sleek chopper parked in a cordoned off area. Right next to the chopper was a security check point so I inquired and found out that it was a dummy copter that was brought in to be placed in the hotel restaurant as decoration," she said.
Khaleej Times visited the hotel to check out the chopper and learnt that the 100kg toy chopper was just a show piece that would be placed at the hotel's restaurant to entertain its visitors.
According to a source at the hotel, the toy-chopper was brought in by the hotel as a decoration prop for Christmas and New Year festivities. " It doesn't have an engine or any electric controls, it is just for our guests - mainly children - to come and  sit in the chopper, have fun and get pictures clicked."
"We kept it in our basement as we are yet to get the required permissions to place it in our restaurant and also because we wanted to surprise and excite our guests," the source told Khaleej Times.
When asked how they managed to bring it to the basement of the hotel, the source said the toy-chopper was light and quite easy to move on a trolly as it had no engine.
"Three of us conveniently placed it on a cart and brought it down the way cars come into the basement."
One side of the two-seater copter's wind shield is open for guests to get in and get the feel of sitting in the chopper which has proper seat belts and some dummy gears and controls to make it look real.
As soon as the hotel gets the required permission from the authorities ( which should be in a day or two), they will place chopper on one of their restaurants on the ground floor.
So if you've never had a chance to sit in a chopper before, a visit at the Mövenpick Hotel at JLT during the Christmas and New Year time may just help you get it off your bucket list.
Saman@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai