Search Continues Today For Missing Thai Rescue Helicopter

 

 

 

MYANMAR : -- Ground and aerial search continued today for the third day Monday after a rescue helicopter from Thailand has lost contact with ground control Saturday  during a search for two Myanmar climbers who scaled Southeast Asia\'s highest peak a month ago. 

 

The helicopter was carrying three people, including a Thai pilot Chatchawal Taenthong. The pilot is also a member of Channel 3′s Sky Report news team based in the North.

The helicopter belongs to Advance Aviation. It was hired by Htoo Foundation to drop food for a team searching  for two Myanmar climbers who went  missing since August 31.

Advance Aviation chief executive Chai Na Silavante, expressed high hope the helicopter might make an emergency landing at a location after encountering poor visibility during the food  delivery mission.

He said the helicopter left the Putao at 3.00 p.m. Saturday  to drop food to the search team at a location in the rugged terrain which normally takes  about 30 minute flight.

However it lost contact and did not arrive at the location, he said.

He was confident that the pilot who has long time flight experience might make emergency landing at somewhere between the two locations.

He also believed the pilot and the two passengers are still alive  as so far there was no  emergency alert transmission signal being sent out by the helicopter.

He explained that in case of the crash the helicopter would automatically send out the signal on just a 2G impact  force.

This made him to believe that they are all safe, he said.

According to Htoo Foundation, the Thai helicopter left Putao airport in Myanmar’s northern Kachin state on Saturday. The foundation is leading the search effort for the climbers.

An eight-member team set out to climb the 5,881-meter (19,300-foot) Hkakabo Razi mountain last month, but only two went up the final stretch due to the narrow nature of the summit, reaching the ice-capped mountaintop on Aug. 31.

The men reported before making their descent that their radio battery was weak. They were supposed to reconnect with their colleagues at base camp on Sept. 9, but did not show up.

The search for the climbers involved helicopters from Thailand, the U.S. and China, as well as other mountaineers.