‘No terrorists involved in Layyah crash’

An investigation into the crash revealed the cause was turbulent weather.

MULTAN:

A detailed investigation into the Layyah helicopter crash on Tuesday, concluded that the cause of the crash was bad weather which resulted in technical failure during the flight.

Earlier, an investigation was ordered fearing terrorist activity in the incident, as Punjab DG Rangers Major General Muhammad Nawaz was on a monitoring visit of possible action against banned militant organizations and the Taliban in southern Punjab at the time.

A search operation for the victims of the crash has been expanded to Guddo Barrage near the river Indus flow and all parts of the helicopter were located near Taunsa Barrage. The search operation is still in process, as expert divers are searching for the bodies of several victims. Four dead bodies have been recovered including that of Captain Asif Nawaz and lt Col Amir Abbas, the pilot of the helicopter.

Pakistan has purchased this helicopter especially from the US helicopter manufacturers BELL in 1994 and it was assigned to the Punjab rangers. It has been considered one of the safest machines and was traditionally reserved for transporting foreigners, special guests and VVIPs.

Base operators confirmed that a complete check of the craft was carried out every six months.

According to the report, the pilot had been flying the helicopter at a low level.

The wing of the fan at the tail of helicopter entered in the helicopter after breaking from the tail and caused the accident.

“Due to the low level flight, it was hard to safely land the craft,” said a Rangers official.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2011.