An Indian Air Force chopper with three on board has gone missing near Sagalee in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh, a Defence Ministry official said on Tuesday, reported PTI. Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told ANI that the whole state machinery was “geared up” to locate the missing helicopter.

Rijiju said the chopper missing was on a rescue mission in turbulent weather. The helicopter had been deployed to help people stranded because of a road blockage between Sagalee and Itanagar, ANI reported. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and state government officials are mobilising local residents to locate it.

This is not the first time an IAF aircraft has gone missing this year. On May 23, an IAF Sukhoi fighter jet went missing with two crew members on board. The wreckage was found three days later. The aircraft had disappeared after taking off from the Tezpur Salonibari Air Force station in Assam at 10.30 am, on a routine training sortie.