Mumbai: Four persons died after being brought out of the Pawan Hans helicopter of the ONGC that made an emergency landing in the Arabian Sea, about one nautical mile away from ONGC offshore rig Sagar Kiran, around 11.45 am today.
The deceased were identified as Mukesh Patel, Vijay Mandloi, Satyambad Patra and Sanju Francis. Three of the deceased were ONGC employees and ONGC stated it was “reaching out to the affected families and extending all possible support”.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre-MRCC (Mumbai), under the Indian Coast Guard, received a distress alert, today, which was promptly traced back to a Pawan Hans Helicopter employed for ONGC in Mumbai High. The helicopter was carrying 2 pilots and 7 crew and ditched into the sea whilst attempting an emergency landing on an oil platform.
MRCC (Mumbai) immediately alerted all stakeholders for urgent Search and Rescue, which lasted two hours. An urgent requisition was also made to the Indian Navy and accordingly, Naval Seaking and ALH were launched promptly.
According to the ICG, in challenging weather conditions, ONGC ship OSV Malviya-16 located and rescued 4 survivors whereas 1 survivor was picked up by a lifeboat launched by ONGC rig Sagar Kiran.
Similarly, Naval Seaking and ALH recovered 4 survivors in critical condition. ONGC stated that these four persons rescued by the Navy chopper were brought to the base unconscious. They were ferried to Juhu airbase for further medical management and thereafter taken to the hospital.. However, the four persons were declared brought dead at Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital.
ONGC claimed that the Regional Contingency Plan (west) (RCP) was immediately activated and while the Indian Navy and Coast Guard were informed of the incident, ONGC vessels near the location were mobilized for search and rescue operation. The Navy also deputed its vessels and chopper while Coast Guard diverted its vessels and an aircraft.
– global bihari bureau
