Last missing person body recovered; Pawan Hans chopper crash

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Thursday recovered the body of the last missing passenger on board the Pawan Hans chopper which crashed on January 13. The body has been identified as that of V K Bindulal Babu, 50, Deputy General Manager, ONGC.

According to the victim's relative, the body was identified by Babu's wife, Shyni.

Varun Augustya, commandant, ICG, said, "We have recovered the mortal remains of all passengers and pilots on board the chopper. Most of the aircraft debris, including critical components such as the landing gear, flight data recorder, main gear box and tail gear box have been recovered by the Coast Guard, ONGC and Naval ships, and handed over for investigation."

A total of 16 ships (two from the Indian Navy, five from ICG, and nine from ONGC) and four aircrafts (Seaking and Chetak from the Indian Navy, and Dornier from the ICG) were deployed to conduct the search and were in operation since Sunday morning.