An Indian Coast Guard helicopter, with four crew members on board, was forced to make an emergency hard landing in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat's Porbandar coast on Monday night. One crew member has been recovered, while search for remaining three is underway.
The Coast Guard said that it has deployed four ships and two aircraft for rescue efforts.
The Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) took off around 11:00 pm on Monday to evacuate an injured crew member from the Motor Tanker Hari Leela off Porbandar, the Coast Guard said.
"Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) which saved 67 lives during recent cyclonic weather in Gujarat was launched around 2300 hours yesterday for medical evacuation of a seriously injured crew onboard Indian Flagged Motor Tanker Hari Leela, about 45 kms from Porbandar into the sea, in response to a request received from the Master of the vessel," the Coast Guard said in a statement.
More details in connection with the emergency landing are awaiting.
The incident comes a day after a MiG-29 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer on Monday due to a "critical" technical snag.
However, the pilot ejected from the aircraft safely and no loss of life was reported.
A senior IAF official said a Court of Inquiry was ordered into the incident.
Barmer collector Nishant Jain, SP Narendra Meena and other senior officers reached the crash site. He said the incident took place away from the populated area. "No loss of human life was reported. The plane caught fire during the crash."
The SP said that there was rainwater near the crash site which made it difficult for the fire brigades to reach the site.
