Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu safe, chopper lands at Daporijo
April 30th, 2011 - 4:18 pm ICT by ANIItanagar, Apr 30 (ANI): A Pawan Hans Helicopter, which was flying from Tawang to Itanagar with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, has landed safely at Daporijo after going missing since 10 am on Saturday morning.
The helicopter left from Tawang in the morning and was scheduled to reach Itanagar at 11: 30 a.m, as it takes 70 minutes to reach the state capital.
Daporijo is a census town in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Upper Subansiri district. Daporijo is located at an elevation of 600 m above sea level.
“The bad weather forced pilot to make an emergency landing wherever he can do. All measures were being taken by the state government to find out the Chief Minister’s chopper,” said Member of Parliament from Arunachal Pradesh Takam Sanjoy.
The Army and the Air Force had also launched an operation to locate the CM’s chopper.
The PHHL has been operating five helicopters across Arunachal, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura and daily Guwahati-Tawang services for the past nine years. It is one of the major lifelines of the landlocked Arunachal Pradesh.
The helicopter service on the Guwahati-Tawang route was suspended in the wake of three probes being over a Pawan Hans chopper crash on April 19, killing 17 people and injuring six.
Sanjoy, who has been vociferously taking up the issue with the Government of India, particularly the Defence Ministry after the MI 17 IAF chopper crash at Tawang on November 19 last year that had killed all 12 defence personnel, including three pilots, said that nothing should to left to chance after the investigation reports are submitted. (ANI)
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Tags: bad weather, census town, chief minister, chopper lands, defence ministry, emergency landing, government of india, helicopter service, investigation reports, lifelines, member of parliament, nagaland, nine years, pawan hans helicopter, saturday morning, sea level, sikkim, state of arunachal pradesh, tawang, three pilots