Helicopter with seven onboard goes missing off Mumbai; four bodies recovered

A Pawan Hans helicopter with five Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) employees and two crew on a routine sortie between Juhu heliport and the offshore rigs was lost to sea on Saturday.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG), which launched a Search and Rescue (SAR) operation, confirmed that the helicopter had crashed into the Arabian Sea. Four bodies have been recovered so far, with one of them being identified as Pankaj Garg, deputy general manager, ONGC.

The helicopter had taken off from Juhu in Mumbai for the North Field of ONGC at 10.20 a.m. At 10.35 a.m. when the helicopter had flown 30 nautical miles, it lost contact.

The helicopter was flown by Capt. V.C. Katoch and Capt. Ramesh Oathkar. Passengers on boarding included Sarvannan, V.K. Babu, Jose Anthony, Pankaj Garg and P. Shrinivasan — all deputy general managers at ONGC posted at off shore rig operations.