Search for Khandu continues

Lily

B.R
Staff member
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Itanagar: The helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, reported missing since Saturday, remained untraced for the third straight day yesterday even as authorities zeroed in on three probable locations to track down the chopper, officials said.

"There is no news yet about the missing helicopter but all efforts are on to get some clue," Arunachal Pradesh MP Takam Sanjay said.

The Crisis Management Team monitoring the search operation here identified three possible locations where the helicopter might have landed or crashed — Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary and Nagajen in the state's West Kameng district, and the small village of Mobi in Trashiyangtse district of Bhutan.

All the three locations are bordering the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh from where the Pawan Hans AS350 B-3 helicopter carrying the chief minister and four others was reported missing after it took off from Tawang at 9.50am on Saturday.

The last radio contact with the ground was about 20 minutes after take-off as it flew over the Sela Pass along the Chinese border at an altitude of 13,700 feet.

Satellite images

"The search teams are now concentrating on the three areas to locate the helicopter. The three locations were identified based on satellite images and local reports," an official told IANS, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, four Indian Air Force helicopters were pressed into service early yesterday for aerial surveys — two Mi-17 helicopters took off from Tawang and two Chetak helicopters flew from a base in Tezpur in Assam.

Bad weather, however, led the aerial survey to be abandoned after about two hours.

Meanwhile, a team of senior politicians, and police, paramilitary and civil officials, accompanied by local volunteers, left for Bomdila in West Kameng district to oversee the search and rescue operation.

"I am leading the team to Bomdila and we will set up a camp there and organise and oversee the search-and-rescue operation. We will fan out troops and locals to look for the helicopter," Sanjay said.

Senior minister Nabam Tuki said, "There is no news yet of the missing helicopter. Search operations are on with hundreds of army, police, and paramilitary troopers conducting an intensive ground search along the route the helicopter flew. Besides, a coordinated operation is on in Bhutan." On Sunday, two satellites from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had taken images but they were hazy due to bad weather.

Two Sukhoi-30 aircraft from a base in Bareilly also conducted aerial mapping over Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday in an attempt to get definite clues about the missing helicopter.

"We are expecting a report of the satellite images later in the day," the minister said.

The helicopter in question, AS350 B-3, is a single-engine aircraft. In case of an engine failure, there are very slim chances of the helicopter making a safe landing.

The incident comes just days after a Pawan Hans helicopter crashed in Tawang April 19, killing 17 people and injuring six.

The Pawan Hans Helicopter Services Limited (PHHL) has been operating five helicopters across Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura and daily Guwahati-Tawang services for the past nine years. It is one of the major lifelines of landlocked Arunachal Pradesh.

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