Lance Naik Hanumanthappa

Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad (33 Years) from village Betadur in Dharwad district of Karnataka, was a survivor of February 2016 Siachin Glacier Avalanche on Indian Army post which claimed around ten lives. Hanumanthappa was found during the post-disaster rescue operations by the Indian Army, six days after the disaster. He was rescued from 35 feet beneath the snow in -45°Celsius temperature, six days after an avalanche hit an Indian Army post in Siachen, at an altitude of 19,600 feet. His health was critical but survival news gave a chance to family members to celebrate his news of survival.
His family's and the country's celebration was short-lived as he passed away at the army hospital due to multiple organ failure. Hanumanthappa passed away on 11 February 2016 on11:45 hrs.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who reached Hubli airport to receive the body of Siachen braveheart Lance Nayak Hanamanthappa Koppad, announced a relief of Rs. 25 lakh to next of kin of the martyr."We are giving 25 lakh as compensation, two acres of wet land or four acres of dry land and job to one dependent of the family," Siddaramaiah told the media.
The Karnataka government had arranged a plane to fly the body of Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad from Delhi to Dharwad along with his family members.
Army Service
He was enrolled in 19th Battalion of Madras Regiment on October 25, 2002 — had displayed remarkable initiative. He has served for 10 years in difficult and challenging areas out of his 13 years of service. Lance Naik Koppad has served in Mahore in Jammu and Kashmir from 2003 to 2006 where he was actively involved in counter-insurgency operations. He again volunteered to serve with 54 Rashtriya Rifles (Madras) in J-K from 2008 to 2010 and displayed indomitable courage in fighting terrorism. Koppad also volunteered to serve in the north-east from 2010 to 2012 where he actively participated in successful operations against NDFB and ULFA. He was serving in the super high-altitude areas of Siachen Glacier in J&K from August last year and was chosen for deployment at one of the highest posts at an altitude of 19,600 feet since December, where personnel have to encounter temperatures of below minus 40 degrees Celsius and winds of up to 100kmph.
Staying Alive Under Snow
The survival of Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad from the deadly avalanche in Siachen broke all scientific rules and regulations.
As per the research of University of Hanborough in Austria the chances of survival in so much of snow is impossible. They claimed that under such situation 45-160 minutes of survival is very difficult.
Hanamanthappa - a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) - along with nine other ranks of Madras Regiment were buried under a mass of snow after their post was hit by the avalanche at the altitude of 19,600 feet close to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan on February 3, where the temperature was around -45C.
While Hanamanthappa's survival has left many perplexed, here is a look which might helped him to cheat death.
It seems that soon after the avalanche, the brave JCO might have regained his senses and didn't allow him to get panicked and disoriented.
Usually as per Army training one should try to keep himself above the ice surface but in this case Hanamanthappa was found 25 feet below the surface.
Experts suggests that in such cases (buried under snow) one should curl body into the foetal position to retain the warmth and then dig an air pocket. Hanamanthappa might have curled up his body to keep himself warm.
Preliminary report suggests that he may have landed into a natural air pocket and didn’t have to struggle to dig an air pocket (to breathe), which saved his energy and body heat. Under those adverse conditions saving an iota of energy could be a decisive factor between life and death.
The apparent natural air pocket might have helped Hanamanthappa to keep him alive for six days as the warmth of his body could have trapped inside the pocket.

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