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How Capt. Rajkumar saved 26 people in a single sortie of a Sea King 42B chopper

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Poor visibility due to clouds, lack of landing spot and trees made this rescue mission very challenging, says Rajkumar, a Shaurya Chakra awardee. 

Thiruvananthapuram: Capt. P. Rajkumar of the Indian Navy, who skillfully manouevred a Sea King 42B chopper and rescued 26 people from a flood-hit area in Kerala in a single sortie Friday, has been hailed as a hero.

“I will put this on the top of the list of the most challenging and dangerous missions I have undertaken so far,” Rajkumar told ThePrint.

Last year, when Cyclone Ockhi hit Kerala, Rajkumar and his team were at the forefront of the rescue mission, a feat that earned him a Shaurya Chakra, a gallantry award given in peace time.


Also read: Navy rescue pilots in Kerala are flying aged helicopters that don’t meet today’s standards


Explaining the difficulty he faced during Friday’s mission in Alappuzha district, the naval pilot said the Sea King 42B is not designed to carry so many people because of the equipment in it. “Finally, I had 32 people (including the crew) on board,” he said.

The biggest challenge he faced during this operation was the poor visibility due to low clouds. In such situations, pilots have to make sure that choppers are hovering over the right area besides ensuring the safety of the residents, Rajkumar said.

“It is extremely dangerous and one should really know how to handle the machine well,” he said.

Recalling his manouevre, Rajkumar said, “It was extremely bad weather. There was no landing spot. I had to hover over the trees around the house and winch 26 people into the chopper.”

In addition to this, he had to lower the aircraft and the harness. “It was all very time-consuming as people had to be harnessed around their arms and then winched up. Since you had no place to land, you had to just keep hovering,” Rajkumar added.

As the Indian Navy tweeted later, “This particular operation tested the limits of man and machine alike.”


Also read: Kerala has raised the bar, shamed the Indian conscience on disaster relief


However, his biggest satisfaction came from the fact that he could save people’s lives.

“I am glad I could play a role in saving people’s lives,” he said.

Comparing Friday’s operation with the one undertaken during Ockhi, Rajkumar said at that time, he knew he was flying over sea and that there would be no obstructions. “Here, the scenario was different. Trees, low visibility and rooftops had made it all the more challenging,” he said.

On 1 December last year when Cyclone Ockhi struck Kerala, Rajkumar was the captain of a Sea King 528 helicopter. He along with his crew flew several sorties through the day as part of the search and rescue mission, braving the fury of nature.

While the entire country is appreciating the hard work put in by the army, navy and the air force in rescuing the flood-hit people in Kerala, Rajkumar said in a calm and composed manner that “whenever the nation needs, the armed forces will always rise to the occasion”.

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