Helicopter crash off Porbandar coast: Coast Guard seeks help of Navy to search for missing pilot

“Search efforts have been intensified to locate… Commandant Rakesh Kumar Rana who was the pilot in command of the mission. ICG ships and air assets have been at search, right from the accident, and efforts have been further augmented by resources from Indian Navy and other stakeholders in the marine domain,” the ICG said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

Rana, a winner of the President’s Tatrakshak Medal (TM) and three other ICG personnel – commandant (junior grade) Vipin Babu, pradhan navik Karan Singh and aircrew diver Gautam Kumar – were part of a mission launched at 11 pm on Monday for medical evacuation of a crew member of an oil tanker that was sailing off Porbandar coast.

Commandant Vipin Babu.

The two pilots and two aircrew divers had taken off on board an advanced light helicopter (AHL) from Porbandar station of Coast Guard but their helicopter made a hard landing and then ditched into the Arabian Sea, 34 nautical miles off Porbandar at 11.15 pm on Monday, while approaching the oil tanker Hari Leela, the Coast Guard said.

Pradhan navik Karan Singh.

While Kumar was subsequently rescued, bodies of Babu – who was co-piloting the chopper – and Singh were found in the fuselage of the helicopter on Tuesday, Coast Guard officers said.

However, Rana remained missing till late Wednesday. A source in the Coast Guard said, “While our two aircraft and four ships are scanning the sea intensively to rescue the missing pilot, we have sought help of the Navy’s vessel equipped with side scan sonar system… the vessel is likely to join the mission soon.”

Side scan sonar systems are used to prepare images of large areas of seafloor and objects on or above the seafloor.

“We have also sought the help of the Gujarat fisheries department and alert fishermen operating in the area to keep an eye out for our missing crew,” the source added.

Sources said the tail of the AHL helicopter has been salvaged. “We have also recovered the flight data recorder of the chopper, which will help in investigating the incident. Further, we are taking the help of experts to salvage the fuselage of the helicopter…”

“We are hopeful that the crew member who survived the crash will be able to provide some clues…,” the source said, adding that the injured diver was undergoing treatment in a hospital in Gujarat.

Coast Guard officers said that a board of enquiry has been constituted to investigate the crash.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard said that mortal remains of Babu and Singh have been handed over to their families for last rites. While Babu hailed from Alappuzha in Kerala, Singh hailed from Jhajjar in Haryana.