Su30 images detect an aircraft-like presence near Bhutan: IAF

Images taken by two Su30 aircraft have detected 'an aircraft-like something' in an area in Bhutan on which aerial search is focusing to locate the helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others which went missing on Saturday.

"Su30s with recee pods have managed to pick up something which has been given for assessment. What they have found is something like an aircraft," Eastern Air Command Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Air Marshal KK Nohwar said today.

The helicopters are searching with the inputs, he said.

"The helicopters have made attempts to go to certain areas in Bhutan. Whenever the weather is clearing, the helicopters are being pressed into service," Nohwar said.

He said inputs also came from ISRO on three possible sites.

"Information coming from villagers say they have heard or seen something and are being collated with other inputs and based on that search is being conducted," he said.

Stating that the weather has been hindering the aerial search, the Air Marshal said aircraft are on stand-by in Guwahati, Tawang and Tezpur for search operations. Asked about the possibility of sabotage, Nohwar said "I don’t think so. Let's not jump the gun and talk about all these things."

On the possible reasons of a likely crash, Nohwar said "it is too early to say about the reason. But weather could be one of the causes."

The Pawan Hans chopper, he said, was a brand new one and was only four months old.

"We are concerned about what has happened. From the time we got the information, we have launched our helicopters. The army has also launched a massive operation on the ground," he said.

Asked why Su30s were brought from Bareilly when two squadrons were stationed in Tezpur and Chabua in Assam, Nohwar said the Sukhois in the Northeast lacked mapping equipment.

The four-seater single-engine Pawan Hans helicopter went missing on Saturday 20 minutes after takeoff from Tawang at 9.56am.

Besides Khandu, the others on board were pilots Captain J S Babbar and Captain TS Mamik, Khandu's security officer Yeshi Choddak and a lady Yeshi Lhamu, sister of Tawang MLA Tsewang Dhondup.

The chopper was to land at Itanagar at about 11.30am. The Guwahati air traffic control had reportedly received the last radio communication from it when it was flying near Sela Pass 20 minutes after takeoff.

Meanwhile, Indo Tibetan Border Police have alerted its personnel along the Chinese border, though a top official said it was unlikely that the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister ’s missing helicopter might have strayed there.

"It is unlikely that anything might have happened that side (Chinese border). But we have alerted our troops," ITBP IG MS Bhurji told PTI.

"If at all something has happened, it must have happened in and around the Sela Pass," he said.

He said around 100 personnel in four parties were making a ground search in and around the Sela Pass.

The personnel were carrying provisions for seven days, he said "They are mainly searching during daytime. The terrain is difficult, the altitude high and covered with thick forests. The troops are on foot and covering an area of a radius of 10-15 km", he said.

The search was based on inputs given by Arunachal Pradesh government.

"Arunachal Pradesh government has given inputs about three or four possible locations around Sela Pass. A satellite has picked something in those areas," Bhurji said.

Bhurji said the search was being coordinated from three places ?" Itanagar at the state government level, Tawang at the deputy commissioner level and Dirang at the level of the local administration.

He maintained that more aerial searches could yield results but weather was not permitting them.