Itanagar, April 30 (IANS) A Pawan Hans chopper with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu went missing Saturday after taking off from Tawang, triggering a massive search, Arunachal MP Takam Sanjay said.
Sanjay told IANS that the four-seater B-3 chopper lost communication with the ground after crossing the Tezpur airbase in Assam.
It took off from Tawang at 9.50 a.m. and was to land at the Raj Bhavan in Itanagar, which has a helipad.
‘We are in touch with the defence ministry and civil aviation authorities,’ Sanjay said.
In New Delhi, Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said search parties had left by road from Itanagar.
Saturday’s disappearance follows the April 19 crash of a Pawan Hans helicopter in Tawang, killing 17 people, including three crew members.
The Pawan Hans that went missing Saturday took off from the same helipad in Tawang, bordering China, from where the helicopter that crashed 12 days ago had taken off.
After that crash, the Arunachal Pradesh government had told the civil aviation ministry to stop the the services of Pawan Hans helicopters, saying they were not airworthy.
The government had said the choppers were poorly maintained and ageing.
