A group of trekkers, from local mountaineering institute NALS Outdoor India Private Ltd., has found the identity card of Arjun Singh, aircraft wreckage, shoes and clothes spread over a glaciated area at an altitude of over 17,500 feet near the Chandrabhaga peak.
Trekker and expedition leader Dinanath Thakur told IANS Wednesday that during descent of the majestic CB-13 peak (Chandrabhaga peak 13), located at an altitude of 6,164 metres or 20,624 ft, they found the debris of an aircraft scattered over Dakka Glacier July 15. "We have handed over the identity card to sub-divisional magistrate on return to Manali," he added.
The other two members of the expedition were Kamlesh Kumar and Kuber Kumar. The AN-12 aircraft of the IAF had taken off from Chandigarh Feb 7, 1968, on a routine logistics sortie with 102 people on board to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir.
The ill-fated aircraft carrying 102 passengers, including four crew members, 92 Army and six IAF personnel, had taken off from Chandigarh to Leh. Minutes before landing, the pilot — flight lieutenant HK Singh — was radioed to return to Chandigarh due to inclement weather. The flight took a U-turn and lost contact with the radio operator after some time. The aircraft, according to the IAF, was not able to negotiate the bad weather en-route and hit the Chandrabhaga peak. There were no survivors of the crash.
The flight’s disappearance remained a mystery for 35 years until mountaineers from Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali, recovered its wreckage and a body, identified as Beli Ram, resident of Akhnoor, in 2003. In August 2007, three more bodies were accidentally recovered. Search for the bodies has been stopped since 2009.
It was only in July 2003 that an expedition from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports in Manali discovered the wreckage site.
And last week, three youths – Deena Nath, Kamlesh Kumar and Kuber Kumar — from Manali accidently found the scattered wreckage, including machine parts, clothes, documents and human remains, during their CB-13 peak climbing expedition.
They also discovered an identity card of a soldier, Arjun Singh from Pune, with ASC (Army Service Corp) written on it. The trekkers said they would have salvaged more but had to return to base camp due to lack of time and rations.
“There are lots of things scattered around the valley and melting snow has exposed them,” said expedition coordinator Deena. Searching for the remains of the soldiers should not prove very difficult this year, he added.
Since the crash, only four bodies have been recovered and 98 bodies are still beneath the snow. Their families are writing to the government to launch a search and bring the bodies back for last rites. After half a dozen searches by the military failed to yield results, the operation was called off in 2009. Now when most people have forgotten about the accident, the recovery of the identity card has sent a wave of hope among the relatives.
Kamlesh said Dhaka glacier, at a height of 16,000 feet, has receded and exposed vast areas. “Plane debris are lying there which could be helpful in establishing the cause of the crash. We found a bunch of human hair too,” he added. Youths have handed over the documents to Manali sub-divisional magistrate for further action.
The team also found the mortal remains and documents of Pioneer Beli Ram.
His remains were moved to his native village in Akhnoor and cremated with full military honours.
Subsequently, the Indian Army has launched expeditions every summer to recover bodies of the lost soldiers. Code named Operation Punaruthan-III, an expedition of the army retrieved three bodies Aug 9, 2007, near the Chandrabhaga peak.
The cause of the crash is still a mystery as the black box (flight data recorder) has not been recovered.
Thakur, who is currently on another mountaineering expedition in Leh and is to return to Manali Aug 8, said: "There are chances that aircraft's major portion could be located in the glacier's southern portion where the debris was spotted." "It seemed that the glacier mass was thinned more this season compared to the previous years. This might help the subsequent search parties of the army to recover more human remains and other vital aircraft parts," he added.
Manali sub-divisional magistrate Balbir Thakur, who was given the identity card by the trekkers, Wednesday handed it over to Col. Arun Kainthla, Administrative Commandant posted at army transit camp at Palchan, some nine km from here.
Wednesday 1 August 2012
http://pluzmedia.in/news/crime-disaster-accident/54055/id-card-may-reveal-mystery-of-crashed-an-12-aircraft
1 comments:
Of course ID card may reveal it. And thanks for all the details. I appreciate it.
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