Mumbai, January 13: In a mysterious incident the VTPWA Dauphin AS 365 N3 helicopter along with 8 passengers on board including employees of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ONGC went missing off the Mumbai coast today. The wreckage of helicopter along with 4 dead bodies was recovered while search operation is underway.
The chopper took off from Pawan Hans airbase of Juhu right at 10:20 a.m and was expected to land at North Field of ONGC i.e at oil rig by 10:58 a.m; but Air Traffic Control lost the contact with the chopper and still no communication has been revived.
“We have deployed all our choppers, including ones from each of our naval bases, to search for the missing chopper,” said senior ONGC official RK Mishra. “It is a Pawan Hans chopper, carrying five employees. We are working towards finding the chopper at the earliest.”
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, taking note of the gravity of the situation, tweeted saying that @indiannavy and @IndiaCoastGuard are extending all possible assistance in the #SAR Search and Rescue of @ONGC_ helicopter and pax on board. Wish for their safety. @DefenceMinIndia @dpradhanbjp.
Echoing the similar concern Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that "Navy & Coast Guard are on their job. I am also going to Mumbai to coordinate things. I will discuss it with Defense Minister. She is also cooperating & has instructed Navy & Coast Guard to look into the issue extensively."
“Two immediate support vessels deployed for patrol in the area have been diverted for search and rescue along with 3 Coast Guard units,” said Navy Spokesperson.
The Coast Guard has been alerted and a search operation has been launched to locate the chopper - a VTPWA Dauphin AS 365 N3 - and its passengers.
While the search operation is underway, the debris was spotted and 3 bodies have been recovered till now. Condolences are pouring in for the victims of the helicopter crash.
