Wreckage of missing helicopter of young IAS officer found

The wreckage of the Pawan Hans helicopter, which went missing after taking off on August 4, has been found in Arunachal Pradesh's Tirap district.

"The Air Force has confirmed that the wreckage of the missing helicopter has been found 12 km south of Khonsa, the headquarters of Tirap district," Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said in New Delhi.

However, the fate of the three occupants, including a young IAS officer Kamalesh Joshi, of the chopper is yet to be known.

The Dauphin VT PHK helicopter, piloted by Captain M S Bra and Captain Rajiv Hoskte, had taken off from Naharlagun helipad around 8.30 am and landed at Khonsa en-route to Mohanbari. It took off at 10.15 am with Tirap DC Dr Kamalesh Kumar Joshi for Londing, but had gone missing after a few minutes.

Massive search operations for the missing chopper had been carried on by Tirap and Changlang district administration and security forces under the command of Chnaglang Deputy Commissioner Chanchal Yadav after the chopper had gone missing.

This is the fifth major accident involving Pawan Hans chopper since 2010.

Joshi's relatives, including his wife have arrived at Khonsa.

Director General of Civil Aviation has ordered a preliminary inquiry into the incident, while Pawan Hans authorities deputed teams from New Delhi and Guwahati and ordered an internal inquiry.

Image: Helicopters from the Mohanbari Air Force Station finally spotted the wreckage in the thick foliage south of Khonsa