Thai rescue helicopter missing in Myanmar

[webfact]

Thai rescue helicopter missing in Myanmar
Agence France Presse

This picture taken on September 17, 2014 shows civil servants unloading equipment and supplies from a helicopter at Pang Nan Dim township, Putao District.//AFP

BANGKOK: -- A Thai helicopter has lost contact with ground control during a search and rescue effort for two missing mountaineers on Southeast Asia's highest peak, officials said Sunday.

The helicopter, part of a search team led by a controversial Myanmar tycoon, was carrying three people, including a Thai pilot, expedition organisers said.

"The chopper... lost contact (Saturday) while on their way to drop supplies to rescue teams searching for the two missing mountaineers," the Htoo Foundation, which deployed the helicopter, said in a statement.

Contact was lost with ground control shortly after it took off from Putao airport in northern Kachin state on Saturday afternoon, it added.

Two other helicopters from the foundation and a government Mi-17 helicopter are also searching for the missing aircraft "and soldiers, local police force and local people are cooperating", the statement said.

The missing mountaineers, Aung Myint Myat and Wai Yan Min Thu lost contact with the rest of their team in early September after reaching the summit of Hkaka Borazi in Myanmar’s portion of the Himalayas.

The mountain, in the northern state of Kachin, is 5,881 metres (19,295 feet) high.

According to Thailand’s Advance Aviation, the missing helicopter was fitted with an Emergency Location Transmitter (ELT) which sends an alert in case of an accident.

"Since the plane lost contact, we have not received any alert so we believe it was not an impact landing," Punyisa Chaisong, a sale manager of Advance Aviation, told AFP.

She added that poor weather conditions had made it difficult to contact the team in the helicopter.

Myanmar’s Htoo Foundation is the charitable arm of the sprawling Htoo Group of Companies, with interests from agriculture to an airline, run by businessman Tay Za.

The tycoon, who has links to the former ruling junta and is blacklisted by US sanctions, left Yangon to launch a rescue mission to the mountain, which is in an area where he narrowly survived a helicopter crash a few years ago.

Tay Za’s empire spans teak logs to an airline -- although he has also been accused of arms dealing -- and he is an enthusiastic mountaineer.

The Htoo Foundation said bad weather had hampered earlier attempts to search for the men.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thai-rescue-helicopter-missing-in-Myanmar-30244315.html

-- The Nation 2014-09-29

[ClutchClark]

If pilot or crew were uninjured then one of them likely would have switched on the ELT.

No mention of manufacturer or type of aircraft. The one pictured is just a generic photo by its description.

Does anyone know if the downed Thai helicopter is an AStar similar to the one pictured?

Edited September 29, 2014 by ClutchClark

[loongdavid]

...and it has been suggested that ASEAN countries set up a combined Search & Rescue Centre. Can just imagine the conflicts of interest and blame game between the senior officers within such an organisation if the helicopter was later found to be carry contraband, drugs etc. Maybe a little extra cash on the side guys

[thhMan]

Cmon... we all know its in someones shed... ready for stripping ~sic~

[poweratradio]

One thing is for sure that there is zero rotary wing aircraft rated for 19,000 feet or even close to that elevation.

[Loles]

Picture.

If they are the Myanmar "civil servants" I'm pretty scared to imagine the militant force there ....

[Loles]

PRETTY FISHY as usually.

[ClutchClark]

One thing is for sure that there is zero rotary wing aircraft rated for 19,000 feet or even close to that elevation.

Denali rescue at 19,833 feet. The AS350 B3 is the "premiere" S&R helicopter--although this Denali rescue was pushing the envelope and then some. Thats why I was asking for details--to confirm the type of ship.

Plus this news article indicates the peak at 19,000 feet; however, the mission was dropping supplies for rescue personnel which would be 1,000's of feet lower than the summit.

Cheers

[rickirs]

The helicopter was carrying three people, including the pilot.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Rimmer
not funny reported

[ClutchClark]

One thing is for sure that there is zero rotary wing aircraft rated for 19,000 feet or even close to that elevation.

Denali rescue at 19,833 feet. The AS350 B3 is the "premiere" S&R helicopter--although this Denali rescue was pushing the envelope and then some. Thats why I was asking for details--to confirm the type of ship.

Plus this news article indicates the peak at 19,000 feet; however, the mission was dropping supplies for rescue personnel which would be 1,000's of feet lower than the summit.

Cheers

Here is a good article:

http://airbushelicoptersinc.com/news_press-release/2011/5-20-2011.asp

Edited September 29, 2014 by ClutchClark

[Brian Corrigan]

This becoming a habit.

[mutha289]

From other reports it looks like the missing helicopter was a Eurocopter EC130 B4. The Putao airport that it departed from is listed with an elevation of 7000', I can't find an elevation given for the base camp / villiage of Ta-phun-tan, which was reported to be the destination of the helicopter, but I'm guessing that it would be less that the listed service ceiling of the Eurocopter, 15,655'. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-09/28/c_133678206.htm

[ClutchClark]

From other reports it looks like the missing helicopter was a Eurocopter EC130 B4. The Putao airport that it departed from is listed with an elevation of 7000', I can't find an elevation given for the base camp / villiage of Ta-phun-tan, which was reported to be the destination of the helicopter, but I'm guessing that it would be less that the listed service ceiling of the Eurocopter, 15,655'. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-09/28/c_133678206.htm

Thanks for this.

Essentially a variant of the AS350 but with a larger cabin and more importantly an enhanced engine with higher ceiling of +170m.

This engine in the smaller AS350 was the aircraft that set the record by summiting Mount Everest.

It will be quite a priority to identify the cause of the crash IF it can be accessed.

[SeaVisionBurma]

Can confirm it was an EC-130 as stated above, belonging to Advance Aviation.

I had a meeting in their office a few days ago to book one of their other helicopters, and the staff were still upset about the news.

[RichCor]

Surprised no-one has posted this update yet

Missing Helicopter Found in Burma With All Occupants Alive

By SAN YAMIN AUNG / THE IRRAWADDY| Tuesday, October 7, 2014

3 From Missing Helicopter Walk to Myanmar Village

ABC News | YANGON, Myanmar — Oct 7, 2014, 8:48 AM ET

Tay Za, right, kisses the cheek of his personal assistant Shwe Yin Taw Gyi in Lan Sarr village, Kachin State,

after that latter went missing along with two others aboard a helicopter on Sept. 27.

(Photo: Facebook / Htoo Foundation)

Edited October 7, 2014 by RichCor

[SeaVisionBurma]

Fantastic news - thanks for posting this...