Chinook Chopper, On Stand-By In Uttarakhand, Used In 2021 Tunnel Collapse Too
NDTV
A vertical-lift chopper makes sense to airlift the rescue workers who are trapped for 17 days in the tunnel. The Indian Air Force acquired 15 Chinook choppers in a multi-billion dollar deal with Boeing.
The Indian Air Force has deployed the twin-rotor heavy lift Chinook helicopter on standby at an airstrip in Uttarakhand's Chinyalisaur, where an emergency medical centre has been set up to treat the 41 workers trapped underground in the Silkyara tunnel.
The Chinook helicopter provides the Indian Air Force with strategic airlift capability for rescue operations and has been used for humanitarian missions in the past.
Boeing, the manufacturer of Chinook, says that the chopper's ability to deliver heavy payloads to high altitudes makes it suitable for operations in the high Himalayas. The Indian Air Force operates the Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters and CH47 Chinook helicopters for such operations. One of the reasons to not deploy an aircraft like the C-17, An-32 or C-130J for such an operation could be due to the limited length of the airstrip to generate takeoff for the heavy aircraft.
