Navy commandos join efforts to trace pilots after helicopter crash in Jammu...
Navy commandos join efforts to trace pilots after helicopter crash in Jammu...
The helicopter belonged to the army’s Pathankot-based 254 ALH-WSI squadron, which earlier lost a Rudra chopper in January 2021.
Jammu: The Marine Commandos (MARCOS) of the Indian Navy on Wednesday were called in to intensify the search for two Indian Army pilots — a lieutenant colonel and a captain — who went missing after their Rudra helicopter crashed into the Ranjit Sagar Dam lake near Pathankot on Tuesday.
The MARCOS are a special forces unit and responsible for conducting special operations.
“Searches are on but there is no clue so far. The missing pilots have not been traced as of yet. The search operations were resumed on Wednesday morning. Marcos divers of the Indian Navy were called in from Delhi,” Kathua district police chief SSP Ramesh Kotwal said.
On Tuesday, the rescue crew recovered the wreckage of the chopper along with some pilot gear. The items recovered by search parties included chopper skids, fuel tanks, stabiliser, helmets and the identity card of one of the two pilots, one of the officials familiar with the development had earlier said.
The Rudra helicopter, built at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), was carrying out a training sortie that involved low-level flying over the lake, another official said.
The helicopter belonged to the army’s Pathankot-based 254 ALH-WSI squadron, which earlier lost a Rudra chopper in January 2021.
The depth of the crash site was measured to be over 200 feet.
