11 Air Force planes and one SMS

This is what it took to locate the charred helicopter of Dr YSR that crashed in dense Kurnool forests

The mission to search and rescue Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy though ended on a sad note the Indian Air Force (IAF) proved that it is a force to reckon with not just the equipment but strategy too.

The IAF in less than 24 hour flew seven different kinds of aircrafts to locate the chopper carrying the missing chief minister, using for the first time, its front line fighter aircraft Sukhoi 30- MKI along with the mid-air refueler IL-78 for the purpose.

The aircrafts used everything- their night flying capability, advanced cameras, ability to look deep into the forest and in pitch darkness to complete the mission.

The crashed chopper's last signal was received by Shamshabad and Chennai ATCs.

The SMS sent by one of the mobiles in the crashed chopper also helped a lot as the mobile network provider helped the aircraft in further zeroing in on the area.

A four square kilometer wide area was chalked out where the chopper could have fallen. Finally the coordinates were received at 154714 latitude and 784263 longitudes. The site was a small hill in the thick forest.

2nd September

1:15 PM- IAF received the first call about chief minister's chopper missing.

Within 15 minutes two Chetaks from Hakimpet Helicopter Training School were airborne

40 minutes later one Mi-8 joined in the operation from Yelahanka airbase in Karnataka

4:30 PM- One Dornier got airborne from Bangalore to look into the area covering Cuddapah, Sri Sailam, Chittoor.

5:00 PM- While Chetak continued its search operation one Avro airplane was pressed in service from Hyderabad.

6:30 pm- IAF sets up its own Operations Room at Kurnool coordinating with the aircrafts and the civil administration.

It was decided to flow in Sukhoi- 30 MKI from Bareilly along with IL-78 mid-air refueller from Agra for special search.

8:10 PM- Two Su-30 MKI along with one IL-78 starts scanning the area. The planes returned to their base by mid-night after a four hour long sortie.

The planes receive encouraging success by demarcating the possible area where the wreckage could have fallen.

September 3

2:10 AM- Another SU-30 MKI flies for a six hour long mission with an IL-78 for mid-air support. For the first time in the history of IAF a fighter aircraft was refuelled in the mid air in night.

The aircraft using its synthetic imaging capability locates the wreckage.

6:30 AM- Two Chetaks and one Mi-8 takes off to zero in on the area specified by the Su-30 MKI.

8:30 AM- Wreckage located and two police commandos alighted.

9:20 AM- Two more police commando were dropped in by one Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)

Winching operation starts with the help of Mi-8 and ALHs. Choppers could not land at the wreckage site because of thick forest and high tree canopy.

Aircrafts used by the IAF

2 Chetaks helicopters
2 Mi-8 helicopters
2 Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH)
3 Su- 30 MKI
2 IL- 78 Mid-air refuelers
1 Avro
1 Dornier