New Delhi, April 12 : The Indian Air Force in close coordination with NDRF, local administration, Army and ITBP completed on Tuesday the rescue of 35 stranded persons from the Trikut Hills Ropeway in the Deoghar district of Jharkhand. IAF used two Mi-17V5, one Mi-17, one Advanced Light Helicopter and one Cheetah to fly more than 26 hours towards this effort, it said. Having inducted in the early hours on Monday, the IAF carried out an initial recce for preparations towards an operation which presented challenges. “The contingent included five Garud commandos of the IAF, who had the daunting task of climbing onto the stranded trolleys of the cable cart, while being attached to the helicopter’s winch cable, accessing it from outside, strapping up each survivor individually and getting them winched up and into the helicopter hovering overhead,” the IAF said. Smaller children were carried up to the helicopter by the Garuds themselves. The helicopter crew was faced with their own challenges where they had to maintain a steady hover, with practically no visual reference, in conditions of strong winds in the hilly terrain, IAF added. The crew went from one trolley to the next to carry out their task, which was as risky for the crew as it was for the survivors of the mishap. The operation, spread over two days, also saw two unfortunate incidents wherein, despite best efforts, the survivors could not be rescued safely due to the inherently difficult nature of the rescue operation. The IAF deeply regretted the loss of lives of the two individuals. ASU SHK2247