The 13-member rescue team after airlifted by IAF helicopters. (Express)A 15-member rescue team that recovered the bodies and debris from the An-32 crash was airlifted on Saturday from the site, after being stranded there for 17 days due to inclement weather . They were rescued from an altitude of 12,000 feet.
“Today evening around 5.15 pm , the search and rescue team which was camping at the crash site since June 12, was retrieved by IAF choppers. The 15-member team comprising 8 from IAF (including 2 officers), 4 from Army (including 1 officer) and 3 civilians, was recovered using ALH and Mi-17V5 helicopters,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh said.
The three civilians are mountaineer Taka Tamut, who scaled Mt Everest last year, and two local hunters who assisted him.
A team of mountaineers comprising personnel from the IAF, the Army and civilians were air dropped to the nearest possible location. (File)The An-32, which took off from the Air Force Station in Assam’s Jorhat on June 3 at 12.27 pm, never landed at the Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Shi Yomi district. The aircraft’s last contact with ground staff was at 12.55 pm.
On June 11, IAF had said that the wreckage was spotted 16 km north of Lipo, northeast of Tato at an approximate elevation of 12,000 ft by the Mi-17 helicopter. The location lies where adjacent districts of Siang and Shi Yomi border each other.
The next day, a team of mountaineers comprising personnel from the IAF, Army and civilians were air dropped to the nearest possible location to the crash site. The recovery operation faced serious difficulties and finally on the morning of June 20, remains of all 13 personnel on board were recovered.
Eventhough the bodies were handed over to the families, the rescue team was stranded in the mountains. IAF was facing extreme difficulties in retrieving them since the incessant rains and cloud cover would not let helicopters to enter the area. IAF had air-dropped ration and other essential materials to help them sustain.
Mountaineering team prior to induction at the AN-32 accident site in Arunachal Pradesh. (File)“The effort to retrieve them was delayed due to inclement weather and rain, which improved slightly in the evening today, allowing the risky helicopter operations to be undertaken. All members are fit and in good health,” Singh said.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Siang district, Rajeev Takuk told The Sunday Express, “After the recovery operations completed, the rescue team had been waiting each day at this high altitude for the weather to clear. With the rains continuing, helicopters just could not go in.”
“There is no mobile network there — but somehow they had managed to call me, I think from a satellite phone,” added Tatuk.
