NEW DELHI: India’s coast guard said four bodies had been recovered onSaturday after search teams located the wreckage of a helicopter that wentmissing earlier in the day.
The aircraft, carrying five employees of India’s state-run oil explorationarm ONGC and two pilots, lost contact with air traffic control 15 minutesafter taking off from the western city at around 10:30 am (0500 GMT)Saturday.
“Recovered fourth body,” the Indian Coast Guard said on Twitter, soon afterposting that debris had been found.
The chopper was supposed to land at offshore oil rig Bombay High at 11:00am, the Press Trust of India reported citing unnamed sources.
It was 40 nautical miles off the western coast before it went off-radar,the coast guard said.
“@indiannavy and @IndiaCoastGuard are extending all possible assistance inthe #SAR Search and Rescue of @ONGC_ helicopter and pax on board. Wish fortheir safety,” Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s defense minister, said onTwitter.
The navy and coast guard deployed ships, several boats and aircraft insearch and rescue operations.
The helicopter had been leased to ONGC by the state-owned Pawan Hanshelicopter firm, in which the oil producer holds 49 percent stake.In 2015, a Pawan Hans chopper crashed after taking off from Bombay High,killing two pilots.
ONGC accounts for about two-thirds of the country’s total natural gasproduction.
It made a significant discovery last year at Bombay High, India’s biggestoil field, with reserves of about 20 million tons.