Govt. appoints a Committee of Inquiry to probe helicopter crash which killed Khandu

The Government has appointed a Committee of Inquiry headed by Air Marshal (Retd.) P S Ahluwalia to inquire into the circumstances of the crash of the Pawan Hans helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu near Labotang on April 30 while on a flight from Tawang to Itanagar.

Mr Khandu and four others, including the two pilots, were killed in the accident.

The other members of the committee are Mr P K Chattopadhyay and Group Captain (Retd) T V Unnikrishnan. Mr A X Joseph, Senior Air Safety Officer, has been appointed as the Secretary to the committee.

An official press release said the committee would also take assistance of other experts and agencies whenever required. Its headquarters will be in New Delhi.

The committee will subit its report to the Central Government within three months, the release said.

"Keeping in view the circumstances of the sad and tragic accident and fatalities involved, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has found it expedient to institute a Committee of Inquiry under Rule 74 of Aircraft Rules, 1937 to investigate and determine the cause and contributory factors leading to the accident and make recommendations to avoid recurrence of such accidents in future," it said.

NNN