Mumbai: 2 pilots missing in copter crash

Mumbai

: A Pawan Hans helicopter with two pilots onboard crashed around 80 nautical miles off Mumbai at about 7.30 pm on Wednesday. A Navy spokesperson said a search and rescue operation has been launched and two immediate support vessels have reached the area.

The Coast Guard also deployed three ships for search and rescue. The Medivac helicopter was on its last sortie of the day from a platform on the Mumbai High south oil and gas field about 160 km off the coast.

“We don’t know the reason for that,” ONGC director offshore T.K. Sengupta said.

The helicopter was not on any crew duty and so there were no passengers on board. “The chopper was on standby duty and had taken off as part of its last sortie,” he said, adding the reasons for the crash are not yet known.

“The pilots on the board are still missing. We don’t know their whereabouts,” Mr Sengupta said.

Official spokesperson of the Indian Coast Guard said, “Coast Guard Dornier ex-Daman is continuing search in the area. Two Dorniers, ex-Daman and Porbander, are being launched with first light on November 5 for extensive search. In the interim, under active direction from MRCC Mumbai, ONGC vessels in the area have been diverted and are undertaking extensive search for survivors. During the search, the vessels have picked up debris of the helicopter. As of 10.30 pm, no survivors have been located. Indian Navy has also augmented SAR efforts in the area.”

Meanwhile, GM west region of Pawan Hans Sanjay Kumar told The Asian Age, “It was a Daphin N3 Chopper manufactured in 2011. The chopper took off from Bombay High platform on Wednesday at around 7.12 pm and was supposed to reach platform EE. In the course of this journey, at about 7.20 pm, we lost all connection with the chopper.”

Sources said the chopper was on a training flight from one rig to another. They said that chief pilot Captain Easow Samuel was soon-to-retire had 30 years of experience in flying, while T.K. Guha was the co-pilot.

The official spokesperson of the Navy said, “As per information available with the Navy, the Pawan Hans helicopter was carrying out night landing practice with only two pilots on board when it crashed and sank. There were no passengers on board.”