Mumbai: The Navy and Coast Guard have intensified their search operation for two pilots of Pawan Hans who have been missing since their helicopter crashed in the Arabian Sea at 7.20 pm on Wednesday. According to top sources in the Navy, there was no trace of the pilots till late Friday evening. A team of two officers of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also reached the spot, an oilrig.
“Four naval ships with three coast guard ships and ONGC vessels have been deployed for the operation. Equipment from the aircraft that could provide information about its last location has been recovered. On Friday one more naval ship was put on hold to depart to the place of the accident to join the underwater search operation.” a Navy source said.
When The Asian Age visited the home of one of the pilots, Capt. Easow Samuel, which is situated in Santa Cruz (west), the society was shrouded in sorrow. Family members and relatives of Capt. Easow Samuel, had gathered at his home, and every one was hoping for his safe return. Capt. Samuel was felicitated and given a farewell by the ONGC on November 2, as he is set to retire this month.
Capt. Samuel, who has flown for approximately 20,000 hours, is amongst the most experienced pilots in the county. While talking about Capt. Samuel’s love for helicopters, a family friend, who did not wish to be named, said, “He is from Tiruvalla area of Pathanamthitta district in Kerala and wanted to return there after his retirement. He started his career as a flight instructor in the Chennai Flying Club, with a fixed-wing pilot licence. Later, in May 1988, he joined Pawan Hans, as a commercial pilot on licence number 247. He successfully performed many medical evacuations and night flying for the helicopter service company, including the fire incident at an ONGC oilrig, where he rescued all the trapped people.”
Capt. Samuel’s elder daughter, Shaumya is a doctor in the United States, while his younger daughter Sneha is doing LLM from Bangalore. His wife Anitha is a housewife, who is very hopeful about his safe return. “Flying is his first love,” she said.
The co-pilot of the helicopter, Capt. T.K. Guha, is a retired colonel from the Army and hails from Agartala in Tripura. He has 6,000 hours of flying experience. His wife Ruma and daughter Trishna are in Denmark, his neighbours informed The Asian Age.
Pilots of Pawan Hans are still in shock over the fact that the aircraft encountered such a mishap with such experienced pilots onboard it.
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