At least four persons were killed after a Pawan Hans chopper carrying 5 ONGC employees crashed off Mumbai coast on Saturday. There were total seven people aboard the chopper – 5 ONGC staff and two pilots.
At least four persons were killed after a Pawan Hans chopper carrying 5 ONGC employees crashed off Mumbai coast on Saturday. There were total seven people aboard the chopper – 5 ONGC staff and two pilots.
The chopper Dauphin N3 had gone missing after taking off from Juhu aerodrome at 10.30 AM. The chopper, bearing registration number VT-PWA, was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 am. Five employees of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and two pilots were on board the chopper. The Navy said it had deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg for the search operation while surveillance aircraft P8i was also pressed into service.
In a statement ONGC said, " ONGC confirms that the Pawan Hans Chopper with seven persons including two pilots and five ONGC officers crashed in the sea today morning. ONGC pressed into action all resources to conduct search operations immediately. Four bodies have been recovered so far and search operation is on for other missing persons. ONGC vessels and choppers along with coast guard and Indian Navy are combing the area where the chopper has apparently crashed."
The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu aerodrome at 10.25 AM in morning today.
The chopper was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 AM.
Agrim, an Indian Coast Guard ship located the debris and picked up a body at 12:30 pm, the Indian Coast Guard said on Twitter. Among the dead include Pankaj Garg, deputy general manager of the ONGC. One Indian Coast Guard ship Helo, two Dornier aircraft and four ships have been deployed in the search operation.
The search operation is being steered by the ONGC top Management. The reason behind the unfortunate incident is yet to be ascertained.
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 "Wreckage of Pawanhans Helicopter of #ONGC.")
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