M A I N   N E W S

Dorjee dead in chopper crash
A panchayat official, close to Khandu, identifies Arunachal CM’s body
Bijay Sankar Bora
Tribune News Service

Guwahati, May 4
A team of villagers on foot finally spotted the wreckage of the Pawan Hans helicopter which had Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu on board along with four others, including two pilots, was spotted by villagers at a place called Luguthang near Jang Falls in Tawang at around 10 am about 96 hours after the chopper lost contact with the ground after it had taken off from Tawang on April 30 morning.

“The team of villagers which sighted the wreckage of the chopper also spotted five bodies in the site that confirmed the death of all on board the chopper, including the chief minister. The bodies are expected to be lifted back to Tawang late tonight or tomorrow morning. The state mourning will be declared only after formal identification of the bodies which has now remained a mere formality,” Union Minister for Development of Northeastern Region Bijoy Krishna Handique informed at Itanagar this evening.

The wreckage of the chopper was spotted by villagers at around 10.30 am today along with bodies of all five on board. Former Arunachal CM and senior Congress leader Mukut Mithi said a team of villagers accompanied by a local panchayat official Thup Ten who was close to Khandu, identified the bodies of Dorjee Khandu and the female passenger Yeshi Lhamu, who was sister of the legislator of Tawang. The rest three bodies were reportedly charred beyond recognition. Besides Khandu and the lady passenger, the three others on the board were Khandu’s security officer Yeshi Chhodak and pilots J S Babbar and K S Mammik.

Handique informed that the debris of the chopper had been spotted in an inaccessible area near Jang Falls at a distance of about 30 km from Tawang. The height of the site is at 4900 metres and it would take hours for the search team of the ITBP to reach the area and bring back the bodies. He said there was plan to bring CM’s body to the state capital Itanagar, but every step from now would be taken with consent from family members of Khandu.

Meanwhile, various people,s organisations have demanded high-level inquiry into the chopper mishap while a group of irate public ransacked the office of Pawan Hans Limited at Naharlagun near state capital Itanagar to vent their ire over the tragic death of the popular chief minister.

DORJEE KHANDU (1955-2011) Dorjee Khandu (56) hailed from Monpa community in Arunachal Pradesh and a resident of Gyangkar village at Tawang. He was born in March 1955. A social worker Khandu joined active politics in 1980 and became the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh on April 9, 2007 replacing Gegong Apang. He again became the CM of the frontier hill state after 2009 Assembly election which was won by the Congress. He was awarded a gold medal for meritorious service for his outstanding service to Indian Army’s intelligence corps during Bangladesh war (1971). He was associated with Indian Army for seven years. Khandu was known for his firm anti-China stand. He was a strong advocate for construction of mega river dams in the hill state. He was engaged in social activities for villagers of Tawang district. In 1990 he was elected uncontested to the first Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh from Thingbu-Mukto constituency. In March 1995 he was re-elected to the state Assembly from the same constituency and became the minister of state for cooperation. He was elevated to a cabinet minister on September 21, 1996. He was again elected to the Assembly in October 1999 and became the minister for Mines, Relief & Rehabilitation from October 15, 2002 to July 27, 2003. In 2004, he was re-elected unopposed to Assembly from Mukto constituency in Tawang region and became the minister for power and relief and rehabilitation. He first became Arunachal CM on April 9, 2007 replacing Gegong Apang. In 2009, he was again elected unopposed from the same constituency and sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state on October 25, 2009.

Unanswered questions about chopper crash
Doubts about nation’s capability regarding search and reconnaissance operations in inaccessible parts of the Himalayas
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 4
Even as the government today admitted that Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorje Khandu died in a chopper crash, it has left several unanswered questions on safety of VVIPs travelling on board choppers. It has also raised questions on India’s capability as far as search and reconnaissance operations are concerned in inaccessible parts of the Himalayas.

The crashed chopper was as a top-of-the-line Eurocopter and was only 10 months old. It went down without even a ‘May-Day’ distress signal that could be picked by air traffic controller (ATC).

A source explained that radio contact can be lost with a chopper when a part of it, termed in aviation parlance as the “collective”, fails. This part coordinates the rotation of the tail and top rotors. A failure of “collective” can make a chopper drop like a stone. Otherwise, modern choppers can make emergency landings.

Pawan Hans, the operator, says the Eurocopter was equipped with Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) that works on two frequencies. After the crash, the ELT should have been activated, but it did not. Signals of this can be picked up by satellites or over flying aircraft.

The crashed chopper is the same model of Eurocopter - AS350 B3 - that had created the world record landing at Mount Everest in 2005. Why was the Chief Minister flying in a single-engine chopper as the IAF uses twin-engine Mi-17 choppers to fly VVIPs? asked a senior official.

Sources said the crashed chopper had been leased to the government of Arunachal Pradesh. A twin-engined model was also leased by the company and it was supposed to be flying the Chief Minister. As per the norms of civil aviation requirements issued June 1 last year, single-engine chopper can be deployed only on routes that permit the execution of a forced landing. Also single-engine choppers are not allowed when visibility is low and pilots depend on instrument-aided landing.

The crash also raised questions on India’s reconnaissance abilities. Bad weather - clouds and a drizzle — prevented the IAF Sukhoi-30 from carrying out a successful run to provide images of the spot. The images of the ISRO satellite were also not clear. It also shows that that UAVs could not be deployed.

“It shows lack of radar coverage in that area and exposes a gap in the air defence systems,” said an official while asking why all signals operations in the Himalayas from air-borne operations are not handed over to the armed forces?

It was after four days that debris of the crashed chopper were found today after IAF choppers photographed the rugged mountainous area at a height of some 16,400 feet.

The mountains in the areas of Tawang and south of it in East Kameng and West Kameng district are steep and sparsely populated.

The two pilots of the ill-fated chopper were former Army men and experienced. They had years of experience in the Indian Army’s aviation corps that operates choppers all across the Himalayas from Leh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east.

The Union Cabinet will meet tomorrow specially to condole the death of Dorje Khandu.