Sunday, October 17, brought some respite for the family of late Captain Jayant Joshi who lost his life along with senior pilot officer Lt Col AS Baath after their helicopter crash-landed in Ranjit Sagar Dam on August 3.
The news confirmed both by J&K Police and Defence PRO stated that the body of the second pilot (Capt Jayant Joshi) of the helicopter which crashed in Ranjit Sagar Dam had been recovered after 76 days from the lake bed.
The body of the senior pilot, Lt Col AS Baath, was found 12 days after the incident after the rescue team managed to locate the helicopter wreckage in the lake on August 11.
Neel Joshi, Captain Jayant Joshi's brother took to his Twitter to thank all those people who 'hoped against hope' and helped in continuing the rescue efforts.
"Finally after 78 days, the family bids a tearful goodbye to Capt. Jayant Joshi. Capt. Jayant leaves with full military honors for his service to the nation. We would like to thank you all for supporting us and being our voice to help the family achieve some closure," he wrote on Tuesday, October 19.
On August 9th, rescue operations picked a pace after Neel Joshi rolled out a plea on Twitter stating that the efforts were moving at a snail pace, causing much distress to the family.
His recent Tweet post-recovery furthered, "A big thanks once again to the people who helped... To those who hoped against hope when even we lost ours. And all those who wished him well on his journey onwards."
A report published by The Wire on October 15 highlighted an interview with Capt. Jayant Joshi's father claimed that the Army was considering packing off the operation with no results and a long wait ahead.
"Today is the 72nd day of the search operation. My only issue is that in between the Army authorities keep sending feelers, saying 'now we will have to take a call' (on ending the search operation), and on how long they will continue this," he told The Wire.
According to the report, the family was even advised to perform the last rites even before the remains were recovered. In the past, rescue efforts such as this one, in case of a helicopter crash, have been called off within weeks.
Responding to Neel's post, another aviator shared that while it is a good thing that the family has finally found closure, the 'untiring' efforts of the rescue team shouldn't go unrecognized.
Good words. Thank god there is closure for the family. We've been always concerned from the day it happened and were following each move by those involved... army navy and others. Though a word about untiring efforts by forces who made it happen would have also been appreciated.
— AJ@Serendipity?? (@integrator_aj) October 20, 2021
Exactly, a month ago, on September 21, another Cheetah helicopter belonging to Army Aviation Corps crash-landed near Patnitop area of Udhampur, J&K during a trainee sortie killing two young pilots Major Rohit Kumar and Major Anuj Rajput.
