The chopper took off at 8.45 am for Chittoor and was scheduled to arrive at 10.45 am. Earlier reports suggested that the chopper had landed in the middle of thick forest, said to be affected by the Maoist activities.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) sources said the chopper went off the radar due to heavy rains. The helicopter lost contact with Air Traffic Controller at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad and since then there has not been any contact with the Chief Minister.
There has been no contact with the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, whose helicopter has been missing since 9:30 am after he took off from Hyderabad Wednesday monring, Home Ministry sources said earlier. "There has been no contact established with the helicopter," sources in the ministry said. Helicopters involved in the search had been called back due to bad weather but foot search will continue. 600 CRPF jawans were deployed for the search operation.
Massive search operations were launched with seven Air Force helicopters and 5000 CRPF personnel pressed to find the Chief Minister and others aboard the chopper.
Search operations were aborted because of bad weather in the area, which in any case is a challenge due to dense forest. The area is said to be infested with Naxals and Tigers.
The air-search operations began at 6.00 to 6.30 on Thursday morning and there are reports of YSR's chopper being located. There is no news of survivors yet.
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