A potential catastrophe was narrowly averted in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago Tuesday, as a Pawan Hans helicopter performed a textbook emergency sea landing near Mayabandar. All seven on board walked away without a scratch, in what authorities hail as a triumph of training and rapid response.
The drama began minutes post-takeoff from Port Blair’s Sri Vijaya Puram helipad at approximately 9:30 AM. A sudden technical fault forced the pilots—two crew with five passengers—to autorotate into the sea, 300 meters shy of the runway. Rescue teams swarmed the site, ferrying everyone to shore in record time.
Pawan Hans officials termed it a ‘controlled short landing,’ emphasizing no injuries and minimal aircraft damage. This heartening outcome arrives on the heels of Monday’s devastating air ambulance downing in Jharkhand’s Chatra, where a Redbird Airways plane killed all seven occupants.
Bound for Delhi from Ranchi, the craft lost radar and comms after a 7:34 PM check-in with Kolkata ATC, crashing in Simaria forests some 100 nautical miles southeast of Varanasi. Confirmed fatalities: Captains Vivek Vikas Bhagat and Savrajdeep Singh, Dr. Vikas Kumar Gupta, Sachin Kumar Mishra, Sanjay Kumar, Archana Devi, and Dhruv Kumar.
DGCA-led inquiries into both crashes are intensifying focus on technical reliability and operational protocols. While the Andaman ditching showcases exemplary crisis management, the Jharkhand loss amplifies calls for overhauling air medical evacuation services in challenging terrains.