Chinook Helicopter On Standby For Trapped Uttarakhand Tunnel Workers
NDTV
The helicopter, though, will not be flown today. Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd.), a member of the National Disaster Management Authority, said "we will not fly it during the night".
The Air Force has stationed a Chinook helicopter - a twin-rotor heavy-lift chopper - at the 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. Rescue teams are now just two metres, or 6.5 feet, from breaking into the collapsed cavern which has been the labourers' prison for 17 days now. #WATCH | Uttarkashi tunnel rescue: Chinook helicopter present at Chinyalisaur airstrip to airlift the workers after their rescue from Silkyara tunnel. pic.twitter.com/ZRFgM6VvDp #WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | Lieutenant General (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain, Member, NDMA, says "Chinook helicopter is present at Chinyalisaur airstrip...The last time to fly the Chinook helicopter is 4:30 pm. We will not fly it during the night. Since there is… pic.twitter.com/x6sYTXls7S
The chopper can be used in case any of the rescued workers need urgent medical aid; they can be airlifted either from the tunnel site to the Chinyalisaur hospital (a distance of 30 km) or flown to the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Rishikesh (a distance of around 160 km).
However, the IAF helicopter is understood to be a back-up option.
