The scattered wreckage of an earthquake relief helicopter missing in the mountains of Sichuan was found yesterday near Yingxiu town by a small team of local militia.
There were no survivors, according to state media.
A squad of Yaan county militia radioed a sighting at dawn yesterday, prompting Xia Guofu , commander of the Sichuan Military Region, to head to the site with a platoon of soldiers to determine whether the remnants were the Mi-171 helicopter that disappeared on May 31 with 19 people aboard.
Numerous sightings had been reported in the past 10 days, but none had been confirmed.
On a steep hillside 7.5km northwest of Yingxiu, military personnel examined the crash site and the wreckage strewn over a 6,000 square metre area more than 3,100 metres above sea level. Regional political commissar Ye Wanyong said satellite images and airborne surveillance equipment helped pinpoint the aircraft.
Various conditions - including poor visibility, the lack of a terrain radar, wind shear and engines unsuited for high-altitude flight - may have conspired against the helicopter and its crew, according to some mainland helicopter experts.
The Russian-made multipurpose helicopter lost radio contact with its base during a rapid climb to avoid low clouds while transporting five military crew members and 14 earthquake survivors from Li county to Chengdu .
