Only debris from the Dauphin (AS 365 N3) helicopter belonging to Pawan Hans Limited has been recovered in the 24 hours since the aircraft went missing. Search for the pilot and co-pilot is still on by the agencies -- the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). The black box and fuselage of the helicopter is yet to be located by investigators and divers involved in the joint operation.
Captain E Samuel and retired colonel TK Guha were in-charge of the flight, which took off around 4.30 pm from Juhu Aerodrome. Both the pilots were well experienced to carry out flying post-sunset. The helicopter was doing night deck landing practice at Bombay High's oil platform 'SLQ'. This platform is located at about 80 miles, west of Mumbai.
The aircraft went down in the Arabian Sea, two miles away from SLQ platform. Therefore there was no damage to the off-shore platform. The cause of the crash is believed to be a mid-air explosion. However, the conclusion will be ascertained only after the debris and black box is recovered by investigators. The incident occurred just minutes after it took off from one of the platforms.
Various vessels of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and ONGC were diverted to launch a full-scale launch operation apart from helicopters and Dornier aircrafts too getting into search and rescue operations. Even the diving operation was undertaken on Thursday to locate the wreckage as well as for occupants of the Pawan Hans helicopter.
06/11/15 dna
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Captain E Samuel and retired colonel TK Guha were in-charge of the flight, which took off around 4.30 pm from Juhu Aerodrome. Both the pilots were well experienced to carry out flying post-sunset. The helicopter was doing night deck landing practice at Bombay High's oil platform 'SLQ'. This platform is located at about 80 miles, west of Mumbai.
The aircraft went down in the Arabian Sea, two miles away from SLQ platform. Therefore there was no damage to the off-shore platform. The cause of the crash is believed to be a mid-air explosion. However, the conclusion will be ascertained only after the debris and black box is recovered by investigators. The incident occurred just minutes after it took off from one of the platforms.
Various vessels of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and ONGC were diverted to launch a full-scale launch operation apart from helicopters and Dornier aircrafts too getting into search and rescue operations. Even the diving operation was undertaken on Thursday to locate the wreckage as well as for occupants of the Pawan Hans helicopter.
06/11/15 dna
