Jammu, Oct 17 (KNO): The mortal remains of second pilot of an Army helicopter that crashed into the Ranjit Sagar Dam lake near Pathankot were found after a gap of 75 days, military sources said on Sunday.
“The mortal remains Capt Jayant Joshi, the second pilot of the helicopter which crashed in Ranjit Sagar Dam on August 3 as finally recovered succeeded,” Jammu based defence spokesperson Lt Col Devender Anand told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO)
Meanwhile, in a detailed statement army has said that persistent efforts by Indian Army and Navy for 75 days which were going on day and night to recover the body of Capt sJayant Joshi, the second pilot of the helicopter which crashed in Ranjit Sagar Dam on 03 Aug 2021 has finally succeeded and body have been recovered from the lake bed using hi tech equipment,” The statement added that due to the vast expanse and depth of the dam, Search and Rescue team was using state of the art multi beam sonar equipment to scan the lake bed and based on the inputs received, the remotely operated vehicle having robotic arm along with the professional divers were launched to search the area.
During similar search on 17 Oct 2021, body was detected at a depth of 65-70 meters and immediately operation was launched to recover the body.
The body after local medical examination was evacuated to Military Hospital Pathankot for further examination.
“Indian Armed Forces once again demonstrate it's resolve towards its soldiers and took all possible actions to recover the body of Capt Jayant Joshi, a young pilot who made the supreme sacrifice in line of duty. Indian Army stands shoulder to shoulder with the family of Capt Jayant Joshi during this hour of grief,” the statement reads.
Earlier, on August 16 the mortal remains of Lt Col AS Baath retrieved from a depth of 75.9 metres at 6:19 pm from the Ranjit Sagar lake.
The Rudra helicopter belonging to the Army Aviation wing had crashed into the lake on August 3 when it was carrying out a training sortie.
A multi-agency team was carrying out the search and rescue operation. It has already recovered the wreckage of the chopper along with some pilot gear.
The chopper belonged to the Army's Pathankot-based Aviation Squadron—(KNO)