Hyderabad: A helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy was today missing an hour after it took off from old Begumpet airport at 8.35 AM, raising fears about his safety.
Chief minister's Principal Secretary S Subramanyam and chief security officer ASC Wesley and two pilots were also on board the twin-engined government helicopter that lost contact at 9.35 AM when it was headed for Chitoor district, over 600 kilometres here.
At least four helicopters, including three belonging to the Air Force, have been pressed into search operations but no contact has been established. There is no information of the Bell 430 helicopter, having landed anywhere, finance minister K Rosaiah told a press conference here.
While he expressed hope that the chief minister could be safe, state Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy said it could be possible that the helicopter could have landed in an unfamiliar area from where getting out could be difficult.
"So far we have not been able to make any contact. It is possible because of strong winds and inclement weather, it may have landed in an unfamiliar area from where getting out can be difficult. Time we have before sunset is limited and it is raining heavily," he said.
The 59-year-old chief minister, who led Congress to an impressive second consecutive victory in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in May, was on way to Chitoor district for participating in some functions. He was to land in Chitoor at 10:45 AM.
Two helicopters from Hakimpet air command in Secunderabad returned because of inclement weather, while three from Bangalore air command and one private helicopter from Nellore were involved in search operations mainly over the Nallamala forest ranges, a stronghold of the Naxalites, in the Rayalaseema region.
An unmanned aerial vehicle from the defence ministry has also been pressed into service.
Rosaiah appealed to the people in Chitoor, Mehbubnagar, Prakasam and Kurnool districts to provide any information they have on the missing helicopter. Police and forest departments in the area were coordinating the operation.
He said the prime minister's office, Union home ministry and defence ministry have been alerted while the office of Congress president Sonia Gandhi was in touch with the state government.
The Home and Civil Aviation ministries in Delhi have also said that no contact has been established with the missing helicopter. Home minister P Chidambaram was personally monitoring the situation.
Civil Aviation secretary M Madhavan Nambiar said in Delhi that there was no information about the whereabouts of the helicopter. The Home ministry was coordinating search operations, he said.
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