Indian Coast Guard Helicopter Crashes During Rescue Mission: Three Crew Members Missing

Three crew members are missing after an Indian Coast Guard helicopter crashed during a rescue mission off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat. The incident took place at night while evacuating an injured crew member from a tanker. One crew member was rescued, and a search operation is ongoing.

In a tragic turn of events, three crew members went missing after an Indian Coast Guard (ICG) helicopter crashed into the Arabian Sea off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat, officials reported on Tuesday. The helicopter was on a rescue mission at the time.

The incident unfolded late Monday night when the agency initiated an operation around 11 pm to evacuate an injured crew member on board a tanker sailing close to Porbandar. According to an official statement from the ICG, one of the four crew members on the advanced light helicopter (ALH) was rescued, while the search for the remaining three is still underway.

''On 02 Sep 2024, Indian Coast Guard ALH helicopter was launched at 2300 hrs to evacuate an injured crew member from the Motor Tanker Hari Leela off Porbandar, Gujarat. The helicopter had to make an emergency hard landing and ditched into the sea. One crew member was recovered, and the search for the remaining three crew members is in progress,'' the ICG clarified in a statement posted on X. The agency noted that it has deployed four ships and two aircraft to aid in the search and rescue operations.

(With inputs from agencies.)