Body of missing pilot recovered off Gujarat coast after a month of crash

The coast guard has recovered the body of a pilot who went missing after a Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH Mk-III) crashed into the Arabian Sea near Porbandar on September 2, the defence ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The body was recovered on Thursday. (Representative file photo)

The body was recovered on Thursday.

Commandant Rakesh Rana, 38, was the commanding officer of the coast guard’s Porbandar-based 835 Squadron to which the ALH belonged and had logged more than 1,900 flying hours. Several ships, aircraft and specialist divers were involved in the weeks-long search. The depth of the sea in the area is around 60 metres.

“The mortal remains have been retrieved approximately 55 km off the coast of Porbandar. The commandant, who was the helicopter’s pilot-in-command, was on a medical evacuation mission along with one pilot and two air crew divers to evacuate a seriously injured crew member from MT Hari Leela,” the statement said.