Villagers succeed where hi-tech failed

Itanagar/Guwahati: The bodies of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others were spotted in an inaccessible village in Tawang district on Wednesday, five days after the helicopter flying them to Itanagar went missing.
Army, IAF, SSB and ITBP rescue teams scoured the forested area for four days, but in vain. ISRO satellite images and aerial mapping by Sukhoi aircraft also failed to locate the crash site. A foot patrol finally located the wreckage.
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The curious case of the air crash in Luguthang
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"A village defence party member named Thuptem identified Khandu's body. The bodies of three other passengers were charred beyond recognition," said Union minister for development of northeastern region Bijoy Krishna Handique.
Thuptem, along with his residents from Keyla village, sighted the wreckage of the Pawan Hans Eurocopter B3 at Luguthang, about 14,000 ft above sea level. Details of how the villagers reached the spot were awaited. It would take more time to retrieve the bodies because of the difficult terrain, Handique told reporters in Itanagar.
An IAF MI-17 helicopter confirmed the detection of the wreckage site, which falls in Muko, Khandu's home constituency, after the villagers from Keyla informed the control room in Itanagar about their sighting. An SU-30 from Tezpur relayed minute-to-minute updates (from the MI-17) to the operation centre.
Handique said an IAF Chetak helicopter would take the bodies to Tawang from where they might be flown to Itanagar with the consent of the victims' families.
On Saturday morning, Khandu's helicopter lost radio contact about 20 minutes after it took off from Tawang. Besides the CM, his personal security officer, Yeshi Choddak, Yeshi Lhamu (sister of Tawang MLA Tsewang Dhondup) and pilots Capt J S Babbar and Capt T S Mamik were on board. The chopper had last made radio contact while flying over over Se La, a rocky mountain pass 13,700 ft above sea level.
05/05/11 Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General May 2011, Safety May 2011