Guwahati/New Delhi, April 20 (AGENCIES): A two-member central team of aviation experts Wednesday launched a probe into Tuesday's helicopter crash in the mountainous state of Arunachal Pradesh in which 17 people were killed. "The two aviation experts from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) arrived in Tawang to find out how and why the helicopter crashed," N. Deb, an Arunachal Pradesh government official said.
According to a senior DGCA official in Kolkata, the team comprises Sanit Kumar, deputy director, regional controller of air safety and H.N Mishra, a senior official with air safety devision. Both the experts belong to the DGCA's regional office in Kolkata. The official, however, did not give any timeline by which the investigations would be completed.
Seventeen people were killed and six survived, including both the pilots, after a commercial helicopter crashed and burst into flames Tuesday just before landing at one of India's high altitude helipads in Arunachal Pradesh. The chopper, owned by Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL), caught fire just as it was about to land at the Tawang helipad located at an altitude of 11,000 feet, bordering China's Tibet region. There were 23 people on board the chopper - 16 adult passengers, two minors, two pilots, and three crew members.
The Russian-origin Mi 172 helicopter took off from Assam's main city of Guwahati for Tawang at 12.50 p.m. and crashed around 13.57 pm. PHHL operates daily chopper services between Guwahati and Tawang and other remote locations in Arunachal Pradesh under an momarandom of understanding (MoU) signed between the public sector company and the state government.
"The six injured were airlifted to Guwahati for advanced treatment," S.N. Musoby, police chief of Tawang said by telephone. "The 17 dead bodies were also being flown into Guwahati so that their relatives could identify and take possession of the bodies."
All the passengers were Indians and mostly tourists. The chopper that crashed was in service for the past 14 years after being inducted in 1997.
"In aviation parlance this is not an old helicopter and was properly maintained with two experienced pilots in command," a Pawan Hans official said requesting not to be named. "A thorough probe would unravel the reason behind the crash. In the meantime the second Mi-172 chopper would not ply on the route as it has gone for servicing," the official added.
In November last year, 12 army personnel were killed when a Mi-17 helicopter, on which the Mi-172 is based, crashed near Tawang just after take-off.
Crash triggers shock
Sixty-plus Arati Baruah of RG Baruah Road had been praying at the temple inside her house for her son’s early return. Her son Anupam Baruah was among the victims of today’s helicopter crash at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
“Ma refused to eat anything since she heard the news of the crash. She has not been told that Anupam has passed away and is under an impression that he has survived. Our family is in a state of shock. How could destiny be so cruel? My bhaity (brother) had lost his wife last year only. We do not know what to do now,” Arup Baruah, the elder brother of Anupam who owns Rhino Travels in the city told The Telegraph.
The deceased’s two daughters, Lopa and Diksha, study in St Mary’s English High School.
Baruah said his brother Anupam, 45, was very enthusiastic and went to Tawang for business. He said the family came to know about the tragedy from TV news. “I got the news of Anupam’s death from my elder brother Arup this evening. I will be leaving for Guwahati tomorrow,” former Assam table tennis player Monalisha Baruah Mehta told The Telegraph from Mumbai.
Kamal Nahata, a renowned medicine specialist in the Rehabari area is in a state of shock as he lost his only daughter Nidhi Bothra in the crash. His son-in-law Nishit is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Tawang. “My friend Kamal is weeping profusely since he heard the news of the crash. His daughter was staying in Calcutta with her husband,” D.P. Bajaj, chairperson of the Blood Bank at Marwari Hospital and Research Centre said.
A relative of Nidhi, 32, said she and her husband, Nishit, had gone on a holiday to Tawang. Nishit is a businessman based in Calcutta. “They left behind their only son who is four years old,” the relative said at Nidhi’s parental house at Rehabari . “The family is preparing to go to Tawang tomorrow to see Nishit. We have heard he is able to speak,” he said.
Amit Sarawgi, 30, an executive with Intel who was on a pleasure trip to Tawang with his wife, also died in the crash. “Amit’s wife Karishma suffered severe injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Tawang. No one has been able to console Amit’s parents. The deceased’s three-year-old son Aahan did not accompany his parents and is in Guwahati with his grandfather,” Pradip Sarawgi, maternal uncle of Amit said.
Pawan Hans officials here said the bodies would be flown back to Guwahati tomorrow before being handed over to the families. “If family members or relatives of those who died and are injured in the crash want to visit Tawang to bring back the bodies, one kin of the deceased will be provided free transport by helicopter from LGBI airport at 8.30am tomorrow,” operations manager of Pawan Hans Simanta Bijoy Deb said.
Source: The Telegraph
Col killed was to retire soon
Guwahati, April 20 (AGENCIES): Colonel Naba Kumar Sarma, one of the 17 who died in the Pawan Hans chopper crash in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday, was posted as Administrative Commandant at the Indian Army’s Station HQ at Tawang. He had only 10 days left to retire from service.
An Army spokesman here said Sarma had come to Guwahati to spend time with his family during Rongali Bihu last week and was scheduled to fly back on Monday. He, however, could not get a ticket and boarded the ill-fated Mi-172 on Tuesday.
Sarma, a product of Sainik School, Goalpara, was commissioned in 1978 and belonged to the 19 Garhwal Rifles. “Colonel Sarma had bought a plot of land just outside Narangi cantonment in Guwahati and had shifted his family to his own house only recently so that he could retire on April 30 and come back here,” Lt Col S Phogat, Defence PRO in Guwahati, said. Col Sarma hailed from Assam.
