Arunachal CM’s chopper goes missing
Samudra Gupta Kashyap
Posted: Sun May 01 2011, 00:55 hrs
A five-seater Pawan Hans helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu went missing today morning 25 minutes after it took off from Tawang for Itanagar. With the authorities unable to say anything regarding its whereabouts till late in the night, the worst was feared.
The incident comes within 12 days of another Pawan Hans chopper crash in Tawang, killing 17 of the 23 persons on board.
The AS350 B-3 chopper had taken off from Tawang at 9.45 am with five on board, including the 56-year-old Chief Minister and a female relative, his personal security officer Y Chhodak, the pilot and the co-pilot. It was supposed to reach Itanagar around 11.30 am, and an alert was sounded around 12 noon when there were still no signs of the chopper.
“We have no contact or information about the helicopter,” Tsering Gyurme, principal advisor to Khandu, told The Indian Express. A Pawan Hans official in Guwahati too confirmed that there was no information about the chopper.
Sources in the Army said posts in the Sela Pass area, which is at an elevation of over 14,000 feet, had reported that no helicopter had passed the area today. The weather around Sela Pass was unfavourable for flying on Saturday, and even two Mi-17 Army choppers having better manoeuvring power, with pilots more knowledgable of the terrain, were not able to fly over the area when asked to go out on search of the Chief Minister.
At one point of time, there were reports that the helicopter had landed somewhere in east Bhutan. Governor Gen (Retd) J J Singh told the media in Itanagar that the chopper had landed in Tashigaon inside Bhutan and that the Chief Minister was safe. At 3.30 pm, the state government even alerted the media that a press release would be issued immediately after Khandu was flown back to Guwahati.
An official in Itanagar later said Khandu would spend the night in Guwahati and travel back to Arunachal by road tomorrow morning.
However, as the reports could not be confirmed and Bhutanese authorities too issued a denial about such a chopper being found, by 6 pm, top officials of the state, including Chief Secretary Tabom Bam and DGP Kanwaljit Deol, went into an emergency meeting in Itanagar.
A crisis management cell was later constituted and issued a statement saying a massive search operation would be launched early Sunday morning to locate the aircraft, involving the Army, Sashastra Seema Bal, ITP and IAF choppers.
In a press release late in the night, government spokesman and power minister Jarbom Gamlin appealed to the people of Tawang, West Kameng and East Kameng districts to immediately inform the local administration or police about any information regarding the missing chopper and those on board. Gamlin also asked the people not to panic and pray for the safety and safe return of the chief minister as well as the others.
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai said the government had sought the service of the Department of Space and ISRO to help locate the chopper. Indian satellites had made two passes over the probable area from where the Pawan Hans helicopter went missing, but did not pick up any signals, Pillai said.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi spoke to the wife and son of Khandu. Other senior leaders too expressed concern and said they were hopeful of the best.
(source:indianexpress.com)
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Samudra Gupta Kashyap
Posted: Sun May 01 2011, 00:55 hrs
====================================Guwahati:
CM Khandu
A five-seater Pawan Hans helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu went missing today morning 25 minutes after it took off from Tawang for Itanagar. With the authorities unable to say anything regarding its whereabouts till late in the night, the worst was feared.
The incident comes within 12 days of another Pawan Hans chopper crash in Tawang, killing 17 of the 23 persons on board.
The AS350 B-3 chopper had taken off from Tawang at 9.45 am with five on board, including the 56-year-old Chief Minister and a female relative, his personal security officer Y Chhodak, the pilot and the co-pilot. It was supposed to reach Itanagar around 11.30 am, and an alert was sounded around 12 noon when there were still no signs of the chopper.
“We have no contact or information about the helicopter,” Tsering Gyurme, principal advisor to Khandu, told The Indian Express. A Pawan Hans official in Guwahati too confirmed that there was no information about the chopper.
Sources in the Army said posts in the Sela Pass area, which is at an elevation of over 14,000 feet, had reported that no helicopter had passed the area today. The weather around Sela Pass was unfavourable for flying on Saturday, and even two Mi-17 Army choppers having better manoeuvring power, with pilots more knowledgable of the terrain, were not able to fly over the area when asked to go out on search of the Chief Minister.
At one point of time, there were reports that the helicopter had landed somewhere in east Bhutan. Governor Gen (Retd) J J Singh told the media in Itanagar that the chopper had landed in Tashigaon inside Bhutan and that the Chief Minister was safe. At 3.30 pm, the state government even alerted the media that a press release would be issued immediately after Khandu was flown back to Guwahati.
An official in Itanagar later said Khandu would spend the night in Guwahati and travel back to Arunachal by road tomorrow morning.
However, as the reports could not be confirmed and Bhutanese authorities too issued a denial about such a chopper being found, by 6 pm, top officials of the state, including Chief Secretary Tabom Bam and DGP Kanwaljit Deol, went into an emergency meeting in Itanagar.
A crisis management cell was later constituted and issued a statement saying a massive search operation would be launched early Sunday morning to locate the aircraft, involving the Army, Sashastra Seema Bal, ITP and IAF choppers.
In a press release late in the night, government spokesman and power minister Jarbom Gamlin appealed to the people of Tawang, West Kameng and East Kameng districts to immediately inform the local administration or police about any information regarding the missing chopper and those on board. Gamlin also asked the people not to panic and pray for the safety and safe return of the chief minister as well as the others.
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai said the government had sought the service of the Department of Space and ISRO to help locate the chopper. Indian satellites had made two passes over the probable area from where the Pawan Hans helicopter went missing, but did not pick up any signals, Pillai said.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi spoke to the wife and son of Khandu. Other senior leaders too expressed concern and said they were hopeful of the best.
(source:indianexpress.com)
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