(Dmitri Katchalov) wrote
http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/content/news.shtml
quotes ITAR-TASS quoting gen-maj Vladimir Popov, head of federal air
and space search and rescue: (quick and dirty translation)
"A unique method of evacuation was used for TMA-5 landing ...

I found itar-tass article on the web but it is for paying subscribers
only, only the very beginning is available for free. I guess Popov
was simply misquoted. He was probably talking about some contigency
plans that they had considered or a training excersize they had before
the actual landing. You can see the choppers landed next to the capsule
he
http://roscosmos.ru/PictFiles/DSC00070.jpg