A helicopter operated by Pawan Hans crashed into the sea on Tuesday morning shortly before landing near Mayabunder in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The aircraft had taken off from Port Blair and was carrying seven people at the time of the incident.
According to the company’s spokesperson, the incident occurred around 9:30 am and involved what was described as a “short landing incident near Mayabunder in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.”
“The helicopter had taken off from Port Blair with two crew members and five passengers on board. All have been rescued and are safe. No injuries have been reported,” the spokesperson said.
Officials familiar with the matter stated that the helicopter ditched into the sea approximately 300 metres short of the runway while attempting to land at Mayabunder.
The incident occurred a day after a separate aviation tragedy in Jharkhand, where a Beechcraft C90 air ambulance crashed in Chatra district, killing all seven people on board.
The aircraft, operated by Redbird Airways, was flying from Ranchi to Delhi on Monday evening when it went down in the Bariatu Panchayat area of Simaria, located in a forested region. The victims were identified as Captain Vivek Vikas Bhagat, Captain Savrajdeep Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Dr Vikas Kumar Gupta, Sachin Kumar Mishra, Archana Devi and Dhuru Kumar.
In a statement, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the Beechcraft C90 aircraft (VT-AJV) was operating a medical evacuation flight on the Ranchi–Delhi route when it crashed in Kasaria Panchayat of Chatra district.
“The aircraft was airborne from Ranchi at 19:11 IST. After establishing contact with Kolkata at 19:34 IST, the aircraft lost communication and radar contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 nautical miles south-east of Varanasi,” the regulator said.
