The ISRO has released the pictures taken by its two satellites from over the Tawnag region of Arunachal Pradesh. we are showing you the exclusive visuals of these photographs. We have seen that because of thick cloud, nothing much was visible. Clouds are clearly visible in these images. The ISRO spokesman told NETV that they have not been able to gather much from these pictures.Both the ISRO and the Indian Air Force are analyzing pictures taken over the Tawang-Itanagar helicopter router as the chopper carrying Arunachal chief minister Dorjee Khandu is still traceless more than 24 hours after it went missing. The ISRO used its satellites to map the area while two Sukhoi planes from Bareilly air base in UP made sorties over the heliciopter route and took pictures of the entire area. A Mi17 chopper of the Indian Air Force which went looking for the missing helicopter made two sorties before bad weather forced it to return today. The helicopter from Tawang searched the Bhutan areas besides the Tawang-Itanagar route. Four Cheetah helicopters and two MI 17 choppers ate on stand-by at Tezpur and Guwahati, but could not take off because of the weather. 30 columns of the Indian Army comprising 2,400 personnel from Tawang and Tenga were searching on the ground for the missing helicopter on the Indo-Bhutan border. Six ITBP teams with 25 personnel each also joined the ground search operations. Meanwhile, the state-owned Pawan Hans has defended itself by saying that the helicopter was four-months old and in perfect condition technically. In a statement, Pawan Hans said VIPs had used the chopper previously without experiencing any problem. The defence of the chopper came as Chief Minister Khandu's adviser Kiren Rijiju said there was need to take a strong view on the maintenance capabilities of Pawan Hans. Though some Arunachal Pradesh Government officials have said the chopper has made an emergency landing in Bhutan, the Bhutanese Government has said that no such emergency landing has been made. External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has reportedly spoken to his Bhutanese counterpart Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering and requested him to provide assistance in the search and rescue effort. The Indian Space Research Organisation deployed two satellites to search for the missing chopper. The search operation is being conducted under the supervision of the commander of the Army 4 Corps. Bhutanese forces are moving to the east of their country to meet up with their Indian counterparts and join in the search operation. Over one thousand villagers living along the Arunachal Pradesh-Bhutan border fanned out early on Sunday morning to search for the missing helicopter. The missing Pawan Hans AS350 B-3 helicopter that took off from Tawang at 9.50 a.m. on Saturday lost communication with the ground after it flew past the Sela Pass along the Chinese border about 20 to 25 minutes later. The helicopter was scheduled to land in Itanagar at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday. The state government has also set up a crisis management cell with Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Yeshi Tsering, Civil Aviation Commissioner Hage Khoda, Home Secretary A K Srivastav, Inspector General of Police S.B.K. Singh, Deputy Inspector General Police Robin Hibu, Deputy Inspector General of Police Anil Shukla, City Deputy Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sain and Superintendent of Police Apang Tamut as its members. Apart from Khandu, the people on board included crew members Captain J S Babbar and Captain KS Malick, Khandu"s security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang legislator Tsewang Dhondup. The missing helicopter, AS350 B-3, is a single-engine chopper. In case of an engine failure, there are very slim chances of the helicopter making a safe landing.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Two Sukhoi jets, 30 other aircraft searching for missing Arunachal CM
ISRO deploys satellites to search for missing Arunachal Pradesh CM
Bangalore/Itanagar, May 1 (ANI): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has deployed two satellites to search for the missing chopper of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu.
ISRO sources said that they would be in a position to give some details late on Sunday afternoon after reviewing the satellite pictures after noon. The two ISRO satellites will be deployed between 10.30 a.m. and noon.
Meanwhile, the search operation is being conducted under the supervision of the commander of the Army 4 Corp. About 30 army columns, besides paramilitaries are conducting the search operations on the Indian side. They are being backed by the Indian Air Force, which has already conducted two sorties in the area where the missing chopper is said to have gone down.
Bhutanese forces are moving to the east of the country to meet up with their Indian counterparts and join in the search operation.
Over one thousand villagers living along the Arunachal Pradesh-Bhutan border fanned out early on Sunday morning in search of a missing helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four other people.
Simultaneously, two Central Government ministers – V. Narayanswamy and Mukul Wasnik have been asked by the UPA Government to reach Itanagar to monitor the situation. When reports last came in, the two ministers had reached Guwahati, but were unable to proceed to Itanagar because of inclement weather.
Two MI-17 helicopters have also been deployed for the search operations. Only one of the two has been able to reach Itanagar.
The Indian Army and paramilitary troops have also been called in to help in the search and possible rescue effort. The Indian Government has made a request to neighbouring Bhutan to deploy Bhutanese troops in the search operation on its side of the Indo-Bhutan border.
Teams of the Indian Air Force (IAF) have resumed search operations this morning to locate the missing Pawan Hans AS350 B-3 helicopter that took off from Tawang at 9.50 a.m. on Saturday.
The copter lost communication with the ground after it flew past the Sela Pass along the Chinese border about 20 to 25 minutes later. The helicopter was scheduled to land in Itanagar at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday.
Khandu''''s spokesperson Jambey Tsering said: "The second day search operation has begun. The chief minister is still untraceable. Weather conditions have been deteriorating at various locations, but the search operation began early in the morning itself."
The state government has also set up a crisis management cell with Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Yeshi Tsering, Civil Aviation Commissioner Hage Khoda, Home Secretary A K Srivastav, Inspector General of Police S.B.K. Singh, Deputy Inspector General Police (West) Robin Hibu, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) Anil Shukla, City Deputy Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sain and Superintendent of Police Apang Tamut as its members.
The committee will be monitoring the situation under the overall guidance and supervision of Chief Secretary Tabam Bam.
On Saturday, several media reports quoted Arunachal Pradesh Governor General (retired) J J Singh and Chief Secretary Bam as saying that the helicopter had landed safely somewhere in eastern Bhutan adjoining Tawang district and that the same helicopter was flying back to Guwahati with the chief minister on board.
Bhutan, however, later denied that any Indian helicopter had landed in its territory, but said a search operation was launched following request from New Delhi.
Apart from Khandu, the people on board included crew members Captain J S Babbar and Captain KS Malick, Khandu''''s security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang legislator Tsewang Dhondup.
The missing helicopter, AS350 B-3, is a single-engine chopper. In case of an engine failure, there are very slim chances of the helicopter making a safe landing. (ANI)
Bad weather hampers search for Arunachal CM
Dorjee Khandu's spokesperson Jambey Tsering said, "The second day search operation has begun. The Arunachal Pradesh CM is still untraceable. Weather conditions have been deteriorating at various locations, but the search operation began early in the morning itself." Two MI-17s and two Sukhoi 30s scanning the area. Their data will be analysed for further clues. Since the area is close to Bhutan, teams from Bhutan's army are also searching at the seven border districts. Khandu's chopper has been untraceable since Saturday morning. The last contact with the Pawan Hans helicopter was made 20 minutes after its take off at 9:56 am on Saturday. The contact was abruptly cut off and since then there has been no trace. The chopper was carrying the Chief Minister, a police officer, a woman official and two captains. On Saturday, there was confusion over whether Khandu's chopper has been found or not. Chief Minister's office said that Khandu's helicopter had to make an emergency landing due to technical snag near Tawang but inside Bhutanese territory and the CM was safe. However, later the Bhutan government said that they have no information of any chopper landing in Bhutan. Khandu had taken off from Tawang at 9:56 am and was to land at Itanagar at 11:30 am by the chartered Pawan Hans helicopter. 56-year-old Khandu, who had served in the intelligence wing of the Indian Army, was sworn on April 9, 2007 as the fifth chief minister of the state, replacing Gegong Apang. On April 19, a Pawan Hans helicopter crashed in the mountains of Tawang, bordering Tibet, killing all 17 people on board. The helicopter crashed not far away from the helipad and the DGCA had found that proper fire-fighting facilities could have saved lives. In the other incident, an army helicopter crashed near Gangtok killing four occupants on board.
