Dhruv helicopter from an Army Aviation Corps squadron based at Pathankot had taken off on a routine sortie when it crashed into the dam

The unit will explore the digitally located wreckage at the depth of approximately 80-100 meters.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 14

The Army has intensified the search operations for the wreckage of its Dhruv helicopter that had crashed into the Ranjit Sagar Dam on August 3 by flying in a Submarine Rescue Unit of Indian Navy to the crash site near Kathua in Jammu region. The bodies of the two pilots, a Lieutenant Colonel and a Captain, are also yet to be retrieved.

The unit will explore the digitally located wreckage at the depth of approximately 80-100 meters. The Indian Air Force lifted the heavy equipment for underwater search and rescue from Vishakhapatnam to Air Force Station Pathankot on the intervening night of August 13 and 14. 

Earlier, a small area of 60 meters by 60 meters had been localised and special sonar equipment flown in from Kochi was employed to enable the search operations to enter the final phase. On August 11, the Army had stated that the wreckage had been identified at a depth of approximately 80 meters from the surface of the reservoir.

The Indian Army and all other agencies to include Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, NDRF, Ranjit Sagar Dam Authority, local District Authorities including locals are sparing no efforts for bringing the operations to a final conclusion.  The reservoir is 25-km long, 8-km wide and more than 500-foot deep.

“Experts, specialised equipment and divers are being continuously flown in and international assistance is also being sought,” the Army’s Western Command had said. Divers from the Navy and the Army’s Special Forces have been involved in the search operation, along with multi-beam sonars, side scanners, remotely operated vehicles and underwater manipulators which have been flown in from Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai and Kochi.

The search continued unabated in spite of bad weather and rain. This deep underwater operation is especially challenging due to the near-zero visibility below 50 meters, owing to the colloidal nature of water in this season which adversely impacts accuracy of sonars and other sensors.

The Dhruv helicopter from an Army Aviation Corps squadron based at Pathankot had taken off on a routine sortie when it crashed into the reservoir. Only a part of the helicopter’s wreckage was recovered in the initial phase of the search. The Army has not officially released the names of the missing persons.

Sources said that this is the second incident involving Dhruv helicopters from the same squadron in the past about six months.

Another Dhruv from a different unit, also based at Pathankot, made a forced landing last week after suffering an oil leak, sources added.