A Pawan Hans chopper crash landed in Bombay High on Wednesday evening. The Indian Navy has commenced search and rescue operations to locate the two pilots on board the ill-fated helicopter.
The incident happened around 7.30 pm on Wednesday, around 80 nautical miles of South Bombay near the oil development base of Bombay High close to a oil platform named – SLQ. “The helicopter crashed landed in Bombay high while carrying out night landing practice on an oil rig. The last known position of Pawan Hans helicopter was 82 NM west of Mumbai. Two pilots reported missing, search operations launched,” Sitanshu Kar, Principle spokesperson, Ministry of Defence tweeted on Wednesday.
“Pawan hans helicopter was carrying out night landing practice with only two pilots on board when it crashed and sank. There were no passenger on board,” the agency’s press release read.
Destroyer INS Mumbai and two Immediate Support Vessels ( ISVs T50 and T48) of India Navy have been pressed into action to locate the missing air crew members.
In June, a Dornier aircraft CG-791, belonging to the Coast Guard was deployed for surveillance along the Tamil Nadu coast and Palk Bay from the Coast Guard Air Station, Chennai. The last contact with the aircraft was at about 9 pm on June 8, and the Trichy radar tracked the aircraft until 10.23 pm at 95 nautical miles south of Chennai. The debris of the aircraft was located after 32 days of search and rescue operations.
In March, a Navy Dornier aircraft plunged into the Arabian Sea off the Goa coast while undertaking a routine night training sortie. Two air crew members, including a woman observer, Lieutenant Kiran Shekhawat, were killed in the accident.