Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajashekhara Reddys helicopter has
been located on top of a hill about 40 nautical miles 74 km east of
Kurnool at a place called Rollapenta by Indian Air Force IAF
helicopters.
Indian Air Force officer Air Commodore Sagar Bharati of the Bangalore
Air Command, who is monitoring the search and rescue operation,
confirmed that IAF helicopters have located the helicopter but he
refused to say if the chopper had crashed or was in good condition. Chief Minister's helicopter has been located. It is on top of a hill
40 nautical miles (74 km) east of Kurnool. We are trying to find out if
there are survivors. Air Force helicopters are over the location. We
are not sure if it has crashed, said Air Commodore Sagar Bharati. Two helicopters are orbiting at the site. Air Force helicopters are
trying to land because the helicopter is on the top of the hill, it's
a jungle so it is difficult to land, the Air Commodore said. The Air Force has already given search parties on the ground
coordinates of the place where Andhra CMs helicopter has been located.
The signal code of the YSR Reddy’s helicopter is 15471479.
CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief reports that government sources have claimed
that the helicopter had crash landed and was completely burnt. There is almost no chance of any survivors, reports Rajdeep.Union Home Ministry sources confirmed
that Andhra Chief Ministers helicopter has been located 40 nautical
miles east of Kurnool.
The
sources said that as a rescue helicopter had problem in landing on a
hilltop, so another helicopter has been sent with commandos who will
slither down and see whether there are any survivors. Army has also sent out a team of 70-80 para commandos to the area to find any possible survivors.
YSR
Reddy has been untraceable since Wednesday morning after the helicopter
carrying him went off the radar and lost all contacts with the ATC. The Andhra Chief Minister was accompanied by his Principal Secretary S Subramanyam and Chief Security Officer ASC Wesley. There
were two pilots - Group Captain SK Bhatia and Captain M S Reddy on
board the twin-engine Bell 430 helicopter which disappeared over the
Naxal-infested Nallamalla forests. The
60-year-old Congress leader, who led the party to a remarkable victory
in the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, left Hyderabad for Chittoor
at 0835 hrs IST in the helicopter and lost contact with the Air Traffic
Control at Begumpet Airport after an hour.
