India’s Navy says it is searching for a helicopter missing over the Arabian sea that had taken off from a Mumbai airfield with two pilots and five employees of a state-owned oil company on board.
Navy spokesman, Capt. D. Sharma, says a plane and some ships have been deployed to search for the missing helicopter, which was taking workers from the Oil and Natural Gas Commission to an oil rig.
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The Press Trust of India news agency says the pilot lost contact with the air traffic control soon after take-off on Saturday from Mumbai’s Juhu airport.
The helicopter belongs to state-run company Pawan Hans, which operates a fleet of helicopters for off-shore operations, charter services and ferrying pilgrims to shrines in mountainous areas.