The Pawan Hans helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh CM Dorjee Khandu has been
missing for more than 24 hours now.
The Eurocopter B-3 went missing 20 minutes after taking off from Tawang, for Itanagar, and the last radio contact was made at 10:18am.
The copter that was last spotted over the Sela Pass was reported to have made an
emergency landing in Bhutan on Saturday, but the Bhutanese government denied the reports.
Among the 4 others accompanying Dorjee in his helicopter are the Deputy Superintendent of Police Yeshi Choddak, and the sister of Tawang MLA Tsewang Dhondup, Yeshi Lamu.
2 Sukhoi helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF), a MI 17 and 2 Chetaks are at present scouring the Tawang-Itanagar route and parts of Bhutan to locate the missing CM. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITPB) have also deployed search teams for the disappeared aircraft.
The authorities concerned have sought the help of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to locate the missing copter. All the choppers of Pawan Hans are fitted with emergency location transmitters that operate on 2 frequencies, both of which can be tracked by satellites.
With the CM's chopper being the 2nd Pawan Hans aircraft to get into trouble in the past 2 weeks - a Pawan Hans copter crashed on April 19th, killing 17 - the company has come under the scanner.
Arunachal Pradesh MP Kiren Rijiju is reported to have stated that Pawan Hans' maintenance has been erratic, and that the government must crack down on the company.
Minister for External Affairs S M Krishna is said to have requested his Bhutan counterpart to conduct extensive search operations for Dorjee Khandu in the Kingdom of Bhutan.