Coast guard recovers body of ALH pilot killed in Sept 2 Arabian Sea crash
Commandant Rakesh Rana, 38, was the commanding officer of the coast guard’s Porbandar-based 835 Squadron to which the ALH belonged and had logged more than 1,900 flying hours
The coast guard has recovered the body of a pilot who went missing after a Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH Mk-III) crashed into the Arabian Sea near Porbandar on September 2, the defence ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The body was recovered on Thursday.
Commandant Rakesh Rana, 38, was the commanding officer of the coast guard’s Porbandar-based 835 Squadron to which the ALH belonged and had logged more than 1,900 flying hours. Several ships, aircraft and specialist divers were involved in the weeks-long search. The depth of the sea in the area is around 60 metres.
“The mortal remains have been retrieved approximately 55 km off the coast of Porbandar. The commandant, who was the helicopter’s pilot-in-command, was on a medical evacuation mission along with one pilot and two air crew divers to evacuate a seriously injured crew member from MT Hari Leela,” the statement said.
Also Read: No trace of missing ALH pilot as search continues in Arabian Sea
The ALH was carrying four personnel, including two pilots and two flight divers. On September 3, the coast guard recovered the bodies of the co-pilot, Deputy Commandant Vipin Babu, and diver Karan Singh, and rescued the other flight diver.
The doomed helicopter, Tail No. CG 863, was launched on the night of September 2 for a medical evacuation mission following an emergency on board the merchant tanker, and crashed into the sea 15 minutes later at about 11:15pm.
The same helicopter was recently at the centre of the rescue and relief work in flood-ravaged Gujarat.