JOIN USThe ELT was recovered by the officials of the Civil Aviation Corporation Ltd beneath the burnt engine of the Bell 430 chopper this afternoon, Kurnool Superintendent of Police Ch Srikant said. Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy, who along with Director General of Police SSP Yadav today visited the crash site in Nallamala forest range in Kurnool district, also confirmed the recovery.
Reddy told reporters on the spot that they had come to a preliminary conclusion that the ELT wires connected to the engine got burnt completely in the crash and the ELT equipment itself had melted either due to the heat after the crash or with the impact of the crash and hence it did not emit any signals.
"ELT did not function as it had melted and even its wires connected to the engine had been totally burnt which may be a reason for not receiving satellite signals," he said.
The official said it was only a preliminary finding and the real facts would come out only after a detailed investigations by the experts.
The Chief Secretary said the Cockpit Voice Recorder of the helicopter, which was recovered on September 3 and is being examined by DGCA experts, has not yet been decoded. Once decoded, the instrument can provide crucial information for the investigation into the crash.
Meanwhile, a five-member team set up by the Civil Aviation Ministry and led by R K Tyagi, Chairman and Managing Director of Pawan Hans Helicopter, arrived here and held discussions with district authorities over the incident. The team would visit the crash site to carry out further investigations tomorrow, Srikant added.
Rajasekhara Reddy, his Principal Secretary P Subrahmanyam, Chief Security Officer A S C Wesley, pilot Group Captain S K Bhatia and co-pilot M S Reddy were killed when the helicopter crashed in Rudrakonda hills in the district on September 2.