One person died after a Chetak helicopter of the Indian Navy (IN468) crashed into the Sharada River near Anakapalle, about 40 km from Visakhapatnam, on Wednesday noon. There were four personnel on board the chopper and one of them, petty officer, Mr Krishna Kumar, died. He was taken to the NTR Hospital in Anakapalle where he was declared dead.
The three others, the pilot, Mr Tushar, the co-pilot, Mr Deepika Mishra, and Lt. Hrushikesh, sustained only minor injuries and were whisked away by Naval officers after being given first aid.
It was at around 12.15 pm that the helicopter of the Eastern Naval command crashed into the waters of Sharada. “We saw the helicopter losing altitude and going down even before it approached the banks of the river,” said Mr K. Madhava Rao, an eyewitness. “It then hit a high tension power wire at a height of 120 feet and catapulted into the river.”
Mr Madhava Rao said he and six of his friends immediately swum to the helicopter and helped those inside to get out. “Three of them could manage to swim across while one (Krishna Kumar) had to be carried onto the banks. He was bleeding from the nose,” said the eyewitness.
The rescuers immediately alerted the 108 ambulance which rushed him to NTR Hospital in Anakapalli.