New Delhi: The mortal remains of one of the two pilots of an Army helicopter that crashed into the Ranjit Sagar Dam lake near Pathankot nearly two weeks ago were found, military sources said on Sunday.
The search and rescue operation for the mortal remains of the second pilot continues, they said.
“Mortal remains of Lt Col AS Baath retrieved from a depth of 75.9 metres at 6:19 pm from the Ranjit Sagar lake. Efforts to retrieve mortal remains of the second pilot continue,” a source said.
The Rudra helicopter belonging to the Army Aviation wing had crashed into the lake on August 3 when it was carrying out a training sortie.
A multi-agency team was carrying out the search and rescue operation. It has already recovered the wreckage of the chopper along with some pilot gear.
The chopper belonged to the Army’s Pathankot-based Aviation Squadron.
“The wreckage of the #ArmyHelicopter that had crashed into the #RanjitSagarReservoir has been identified at a depth of approx 80m from the surface of the reservoir. Heavy duty #RemotelyOperatedVehicles are being flown in to assist the recovery operationsm,” the Army’s Western Command tweeted four days ago.
Also read: India likely to seek Israel help to find Army pilots missing after Ranjit Sagar Dam chopper crash