Bharat Rakshak

When the first alert of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu’s helicopter going missing was sounded around Saturday noon, it was a déjà vu moment. Just 18 months ago, Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy had died in a chopper mishap under similar circumstances. The cloud of gloom lifted at 2 pm, with reports of an emergency landing in Bhutan, but little did anyone know that the lost-found-lost drama would continue for the rest of the day.
Khandu, 56, accompanied by the sister of Tawang MLA Tsewang Dhondup and a security officer, took off from Tawang, for Itanagar in a Pawan Hans Eurocopter B3 craft at 9.55am in partly cloudy conditions.

A two-member team from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will leave for Arunachal on Sunday. Till late in the evening, no contact had been made with the pilot. Air traffic control at Guwahati airport said they lost contact with the chopper after the last communication from the pilot 20 minutes after take-off.

“The coordinates of the chopper then were near Sela (85 km south of Tawang),” an ATC officer said.

Arunachal Pradesh CM Dorjee Khandu supporters were warned of 'dire consequences' by christian Naga terrorist NSCN

http://www.vifindia.org/article/2011/ap ... nal-forces

Sushupti wrote:

Arunachal Pradesh CM Dorjee Khandu supporters were warned of 'dire consequences' by christian Naga terrorist NSCN

http://www.vifindia.org/article/2011/ap ... nal-forces

11:16 AM Helicopter wreckage found in Lobthang:
The body of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, whose Pawan Hans helicopter flight went missing on Saturday morning, has been found, sources said.

The wreckage of the helicopter has been found in Lobthang.

The chief minister was headed to Itanagar from Tawang when the copter lost contact as it approached Sela Pass. '

All the five people on board are reported to be dead.

Five days after the helicopter that he was using went missing, Arunachal Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu has been found dead in Luguthang, near the China border. A government official has identified the Chief Minister's body.

The four other people on board with him - including two pilots and his security officer - have also died. The bodies were found at a height of 4900 metres. The Chief Minister's body will now be moved to Itanagar.

RamaY wrote: PParty guy is calling it a Chinese assassination

Sushupti wrote:I heard that Chinese have been practicing their anti-missile system on helicopters and military carrier planes flying on the Indian side.

Singha wrote: I think its time to mandate:
- atleast 2 engines
- 21s century avionics and terrain avoidance systems
- new network of ground based weather radar and a few C130 weather planes (side benefit is it will also dual-role help the IAF greatly both in peace and war) -

cost - probably a couple billion $ - but it will fill up a long term hole and set the foundation for better deeds.

Rahul M wrote:^^ you should get together with bark da hutt sometime. you may not realise it but you two have much in common.

and the great Indian tradition of scoring endless self-goals lives on.
sometimes I get the feeling we really do not deserve to live, we deserve to be kicked mercilessly till we are all dead or the suicidal sector of our brain dries out. even the pakis have more survival spirit than we do.

Dorjee-A grassroot activist who rose to become CM
May 05, 2011 4:00:57 AM

PTI | Itanagar

A military intelligence man who participated in the 1971 Bangladesh war, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu had worked his way up as a local politician helping set up schools and organising drinking water supplies in far-flung areas of the mountainous state.

56-year-old Khandu, who became the Chief Minister twice, was with the Indian Army's intelligence wing for seven years and received a gold medal for rendering meritorious services during the Indo-Pak war that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Becoming an Anchal Samiti member in 1980, he turned his focus to social work in far-flung villages. He helped arranging drinking water supplies, electricity and communication and also setting up schools in remote areas of Tawang, his home district. Due to his efforts, cultural and cooperative societies were established in Tawang.

This helped him consolidate his standing among the masses when he replaced Gegong Apang as Chief Minister of the state in 2007.

He led a cultural troupe to 1982 ASIAD in Delhi from Tawang which won a silver medal.

Born on March 3, 1955 in Gyangkhar village in Tawang district, Khandu belonged to Monpa tribe and was a Buddhist with little formal education. He has four wives, four sons and two daughters.

His political innings started in 1983 when he was elected uncontested as the District Vice President of the West Kameng District Zilla Parishad and worked in that capacity till 1987.

In March 1990, he was elected uncontested to the Legislative Assembly from the Mukto constituency.

Khandu was re-elected to the Assembly in March, 1995 from the same constituency and was given the portfolio of Minister of State for Cooperation.

On September 21, 1996, he was elevated to cabinet rank and given Animal Husbandry & Veterinary, Dairy Development department.

The helicopter VT-PHT is a new helicopter and was deployed on wet lease for the State Govt of Arunachal Pradesh on 5th Dec 2010 to meet its long term requirements .
The VT-PHT is AS350 B 3 type of helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter, France. This helicopter is having latest technologies and has been introduced in our country for having excellent high altitude performance. The brand new helicopter was acquired in mid 2010. Till date helicopter has flown 306 hrs and done 577 landings. Most of the flying of this helicopter has been done in North East sector. The helicopter is equipped with necessary mission equipment like FADEC, automatic starting system, ELT, VHF, ADF, MARKER Receiver, ATC Transponder, Radio Altimeter, Vehicle & Engine Multifunction Display (VEMD) with First Limit Indicator (FLI) etc.
The helicopter is fitted with latest Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) operating on twin frequencies 243.0 MHZ and 406 MHZ. ELT transmits signal on heavy impact which can be picked by ISRO Satellite and any over flying aircraft. This equipment is basically to locate the helicopter in case of mishap.
The helicopter is maintained as per the maintenance programme recommended by the manufacturer and approved by the regulatory authority, DGCA. Since the inception of helicopter in service, all maintenance checks like daily inspection, 50 hrs inspection and 100 hrs inspection were carried out as per the Page 2 of 3 stipulated programme by trained and qualified engineers. The last 100 hrs mandatory inspection was carried out on 10th April, 2011at 267 hrs.
The regulatory authority, DGCA has been satisfied with the maintenance programme and had issued certificate of airworthiness of this helicopter on 21st July 2010 which is valid up to 20th July 2015. During the various surveillance and audit checks of DGCA, no discrepancies were found in respect of maintenance of this helicopter.
Both of our pilots Capt T S Mamik and Capt J S Babbar are fully qualified and experienced pilots. Capt J S Babbar has around 4000 hrs of helicopter flying experience. All his checks like medical, proficiency etc. are valid. He has extensive flying experience in hilly terrain including North East area. Capt T S Mamik has total flying hours of around 3200 hrs. His all checks including medical, proficiency checks etc. are valid. He has flown in North East area for long time. Both Pilots are cleared for Special VFR operation.
As prescribed in Aeronautical Information Publications (AIP), Search & Rescue operation in our country rests with Airports Authority of India in coordination with other national agencies. As soon as we came to know of missing helicopter, our emergency response team immediately swung into action. Our senior officers are also interacting with various agencies like DGCA, IAF, ITBP, SSB etc for search and rescue operation. Senior officers from the State Government were contacted immediately and a close co-ordination with AAI like ATC Guwahati , Bhutan Government and ATC Paro , Bhutan is being maintained. Our base at Guwahati is put on full alert in case of any helicopter or manpower is required for search and rescue. Pawan Hans has already positioned two helicopters in Guwahati for assisting search and rescue operation and State Government. A special control room working round the clock was immediately set up at PHHL headquarters at Safdarjung Airport, New Delhi to coordinate and monitor the search and rescue activities.
PHHL has been operating in the North East for more than 20 years and has contributed for the development of North East states like Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim & Meghalaya. Our people have been operating under all adverse conditions with determination to support the State Governments. For Arunachal Pradesh alone on our Mi-172 and B 3 helicopters, we have handled more than 29,000 passengers in 2600 plus sorties in the challenging flying circumstances during the year 2010-11. For entire North East Page 3 of 3 more than 43,000 passengers were handled through 7,300 plus sorties in the most trying weather conditions and terrains of NE in the year 2010-11
Pawan Hans is fully committed to safety that is the top most priority in our flying. It is on record that we do not fly our helicopters with a defect until they are fully rectified and we are fully satisfied about its airworthiness. Being a PSU, we give priority to the safety of our passengers, customers and helicopters first rather than commercial interest. Our senior officers carry out regular surveillance and monitor closely the operation so that safety is not compromised.
In view of the missing helicopter, PHHL has put on hold its commercial operations in North East area for the time being so that these helicopters are available for search and rescue and the DGCA reviews the current situation. Inconvenience caused to people of the state is regretted. You are requested to kindly bear with us.

We pray to God that Hon’ble CM along with other is safe and return to home early.

Sanjeev Razdan
Dy General Manager (Engg)
sanjeev.razdan@pawanhans.co.in