By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian Air Force (IAF) Wednesday evening pressed into service a frontline Sukhoi SU-30MKI combat jet that has night vision capabilities to locate the missing helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
“Due to its better imagery and night vision capabilities, a Su-30 MKI has been pressed into service. It can look through the cloud and foliage cover in the area,” an IAF spokesman said.
Reddy’s helicopter went missing at 9.35 a.m. soon after taking off from Hyderabad in inclement weather.
“Four helicopters had been deployed today (Wednesday) for the rescue mission. The search has been called off due to bad light and the choppers will again hit the skies at first light tomorrow (Thursday),” the spokesman said.
One Cheetah and one Chetak helicopter from Hyderabad and two Dhruv advanced light helicopters from Bangalore were involved in the search operations. Later, a Dornier and an Avro aircraft were also deployed.
The IAF also flew three technical personnel from Bangalore to Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh to coordinate the aerial search operation.
“One chopper in Mumabi and four choppers in Kurnool have been put on stand by for any eventuality,” the spokesman added.