A Pawan Hans helicopter, with seven people on board, crashed into the sea while traveling between Rangat in the north and Maya Bandar in Middle Andaman Island on Tuesday.
The accident occurred when the PHL Dauphin N3 helicopter, with registration number VT PHY, was on a flight from Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair) in Andaman and Nicobar Islands to Rangat and then to Maya Bandar.
The seven people on board, including two crew members and five passengers, were rescued after the accident.
How did the accident happen?
The accident occurred at around 9:30 am on Tuesday after the helicopter took off from Rangat to Maya Bunder, Pawan Hans said in a statement on the website of X. Pawan Hans Ltd, a central public sector company based in Noida.
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“The helicopter landed at the helipad in Rangat at around 0905 hours. It took off from Rangat to Maya Bandar at around 0910 hours,” the statement said.
However, the helicopter soon ran into trouble and crashed into shallow water near its destination, an airstrip at Maya Bandar on Middle Andaman Island.
“The helicopter landed about 300 meters from the Maya Bandar airstrip in the sea (in shallow water) at approximately 0930 hours,” the statement said.
A senior civil aviation official told PTI that the initial investigation revealed some technical snags, following which the pilot made an emergency landing on the sea.
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All passengers and crew are safe
There were 5 passengers and two crew members on board, Pawan Hans said, adding that all passengers and crew were recovered safely.
Director of Civil Aviation Nitesh Rawat said: “There were seven people on board the plane, including the pilot. All of them are fine. We are yet to receive the pilot’s statements. All the injured are undergoing treatment at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Hospital in Mayabunder. We are trying to shift the injured to Sri Vijaya Puram.”
