New Delhi: The flying zone over the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh is turning out to be the devil’s triangle, one that has engulfed at least 10 helicopters since 2001. But this has failed to draw attention to the need for a scientific study of the mystery that has taken the toll of at least one serving chief minister, defence minister, a major general and two IAS officers, apart from dozens of precious lives in the past five-six years.
In what has also been called the second Bermuda Triangle of the world, the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh are said to have a bad reputation — unpredictable weather within minutes, zero visibility within seconds, endemic sudden gusts of cyclonic winds, many a times the speedy winds move west to east, or a whirlpool in mid-air tosses the helicopter like a kite in a windy sky, leading to a loss of control on many occasions.
A study of the flying zone has become more significant in the backdrop of Arunachal Pradesh’s history of witnessing a large number of air crashes since World War II, when the Allied Forces lost many aircraft in these eastern Himalayan mountains. The US defence department estimates that about 400 Allied airmen were killed in crashes, caused mainly due to sudden poor visibility along the route.
The flight path over Arunachal Pradesh was used by American aircraft to ferry supplies to Chinese forces battling the invading Japanese during the World War II and it was nicknamed “the Hump” by the Allied Forces.
The last crash in this mysterious flying zone was of a Pawan Hans helicopter with three persons on board, including young deputy commissioner Kamlesh Kumar Joshi, on August 4. All three on board died in the crash.
Prior to it on April 29, 2011, a Pawan Hans AS 350 B-3 helicopter, carrying the then chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others, went missing. It was traced four days later near Luguthang in Tawang district. All five people on board died in the crash. Two months later in June, at least 13 passengers were perished when an IAF AN-32 aircraft crashed en route to Jorhat in Assam after taking off from the Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground.
Earlier in May 2001, a Pawan Hans helicopter had crashed near Bomdila causing the death of five persons, including former education minister of Arunachal Pradesh Dera Natung. In the same chopper crash, IAS officer Shangey Lhaden, senior media executive Nandita Judge and two crew members were killed near Sessa in West Kameng district.
On April 19, 2010, at least 17 people were killed and six others injured when an Mi-17 helicopter belonging to Pawan Hans crashed near the Tawang monastery.
In November 2010, 11 IAF officers and one Army officer were killed when another Mi-17 crashed at the Bomdila Pass bordering China soon after taking-off from Tawang.
On August 6, 2010, a Pawan Hans crew member fell 10,000 feet to his death in Namsai district while trying to close a door that had opened during a flight.
A Pawan Hans Mi-17 flight from Guwahati to Tawang, trying to land at Tawang helipad, crashed in a gorge and caught fire on April 19, 2011. Of the 23 people on board, 17 were killed. Two more succumbed to burn injuries later.
Union minister of state for defence N.V.N. Somu, major-general Ramesh Nagpal and two others had died when their Cheetah helicopter hit a 1,300 foot peak, 40 km from Tawang in November 1997.
The aviation experts have now started to equate the flying zone of the frontier state with the Bermuda Triangle, which is a large area of ocean between Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda. Over the last few centuries, dozens of ships and planes have disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the area, earning it the nickname “The Devil’s Triangle.”
