Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu is safe after his helicopter made an emergency landing in a place in Bhutan. His chopper was feared missing after taking off from Tawang this morning. The pilot made an emergency landing due to technical snag near Tawang but inside Bhutanese territory.The Chief Minster's office in Itanager said the two other passengers accompanying the Chief Minister and two crew members of the Pawan Hans Eurocopter B3 craft are also safe. Defence sources in Kolkata said the helicopter landed in Daporijo.The other passengers are Lamu, a woman relative of the Chief Minister, his security officer Choddak, Captain Babbar and Captain Manik.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. Tawang is about 200 kms from Itanagar.The chopper was last in communication with the base when it was overflying Sela Pass, 20 minutes after taking off from Tawang and all communications were lost after that.Army and the Indian Air Force were alerted and helicopters were pressed into service for search and rescue operations in Sela Pass area. It may be recalled that on the 19th of last month , a Pawan Hans helicopter crashed in the mountains of Tawang, bordering Tibet, killing all 17 people on board. In another incident, an army helicopter crashed near Gangtok killing four occupants on board.
News On AIR | April 30, 2011 4:03 PM
Arunachal CM's chopper makes safe landing in Bhutan