09-03-2009, 07:16 AM
'<b>Helicopter may have made safe landing</b>'<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Andhra Pradesh Civil Aviation Corporation, which manages the two government-owned helicopters, has ruled out the possibility of the Bell 430 helicopter carrying state Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy [ Images ] having crashed.
Corporation Managing Director K V Brahmanand Reddy, in a statement issued in Hyderabad on Wednesday, said the helicopter was equipped with an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) capable of automatic transmission of its position. He said the ELT would have been activated in the event of a crash landing or any other unforeseen eventuality.
Reddy said one Dornier 228 twin engine aircraft, which is specifically equipped to pick up ELT frequency transmissions, was launched from the Indian Air Force base in Yelahanka, Karnataka, to search for the missing helicopter.
'The aircraft did not pick up any transmission in the target zone as identified from the last known transmission. As there is no indication of such an activation/pick up by satellite, we can expect no such eventuality. The likelihood of the helicopter having carried out a safe landing at some inaccessible location is highly probable,' Reddy said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Corporation Managing Director K V Brahmanand Reddy, in a statement issued in Hyderabad on Wednesday, said the helicopter was equipped with an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) capable of automatic transmission of its position. He said the ELT would have been activated in the event of a crash landing or any other unforeseen eventuality.
Reddy said one Dornier 228 twin engine aircraft, which is specifically equipped to pick up ELT frequency transmissions, was launched from the Indian Air Force base in Yelahanka, Karnataka, to search for the missing helicopter.
'The aircraft did not pick up any transmission in the target zone as identified from the last known transmission. As there is no indication of such an activation/pick up by satellite, we can expect no such eventuality. The likelihood of the helicopter having carried out a safe landing at some inaccessible location is highly probable,' Reddy said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->