New Delhi, Sep 3 (Inditop.com) The following is the timeline of the search operations to locate the helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy:
Wednesday, Sep 2:
8.30 a.m. – Bell 430 helicopter carrying YSR and four others takes off from Hyderabad’s Begumpet airport.
9.35 a.m. – Radio contact lost with helicopter.
1 p.m. – Indian Air force receives request for search and rescue operations.
1.15-1.20 p.m. – Two Chetak helicopters take off from Hakimpet training base in Secunderabad.
3 p.m. – A Mi-8 helicopter takes off from Bangalore’s Yelahanka air base. It starts scanning the area indicated by state government agencies.
4.30 p.m. – A Dornier aircraft takes off from Yelahanka. It flies from Yelahanka to Kadapa, Srisailam, and Chittoor before returning to base. It was equipped with a synthetic aperture radar that can look through heavy cloud cover.
5 p.m. – An Avro aircraft and two Chetak helicopters take off from Hyderabad. An operation room is set up at Kurnool.
6.45 p.m. – Decision taken to press into service Sukhoi SU-30MKIs combat aircraft for mapping the densely forested area in which the Bell 430 is believed to have crashed.
8.40 p.m. – Two SU-30s and an IL-78 midair refueller take off from the Bareilly air base and land back at midnight.
Thursday, Sep 3:
2.15 a.m. – A SU-30 and an IL-78 undertake another mission that lasts till 8.30 a.m.
6.30 a.m. – Chetak helicopter resumes search mission.
8.30 a.m. – Wreckage of crashed Bell 430 spotted.
9.28 a.m. – Paracommandos slither down to the crash site from a Mi-8 helicopter as no room for chopper to land.
9.30 a.m. – Three more commandos slither down from a Dhruv advanced light helicopter.
10.45 a.m. – Bodies of YSR and four other passengers of the crashed helicopter are winched up to a Dhruv and a Mi-8 helicopter in bags.
