Guwahati, April 30
A helicopter of Pawan Hans Limited with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others, including two pilots on board, went missing after it had taken off from Tawang helipad to the state capital Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.

According to Pawan Hans Limited office here, the helicopter has remained untraced with its pilots remaining out of contact though Arunachal Government sources claimed in the afternoon that the chopper later landed safe inside the territory of neighbouring Bhutan.

“We have no information about the location of the helicopter that had Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu on board as the pilots have not contacted us since 10.15 am today. Search operations have been launched to trace it,” a Pawan Hans official said here.

Lack of confirmation from Pawan Hans about the chopper’s location has left many questions unanswered about its fate.

Pawan Hans sources had said that the chopper had taken off at about 9.50 am this morning from Tawang and was flying to state capital Itanagar, with three passengers, including Mr Khandu, and two pilots on board.

“The last contact with the helicopter was at about 10.15 am after it crossed Sela Pass. After that, there has been no contact till now,” Pawan Hans source said. The chopper was scheduled to reach Itanagar at 11.30 am. The two pilots on board were J S Babbar and K S Mammik, besides the chief minister’s security officer Yashi Chhodak and a female kin of a local politician. IAF helicopters and ground teams of Indian Army were pressed to trace the chopper. Details of the rescue operations were still awaited.

Khandu was returning from Tawang after receiving Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who was in Tawang yesterday to participate in a conference of Assembly Speakers of the northeastern states. Seventeen persons were killed when a Pawan Hans chopper crashed at Tawang on April 19 last.

Meanwhile, the Arunachal government has formed a crisis management team as the fate of chopper with Khandu on board remains unknown. The team will monitor the situation under the guidance of the Chief Secretary.