Hyderabad, Sep 3 (IANS) : With the helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, which went missing Wednesday morning, not emitting emergency signals, the authorities here are hoping that he is safe.

Almost 16 hours after the chopper went missing somewhere in Nallamalla forests in Kurnool district, the state ministers are hoping that he is safe. They believe that the chopper might have been forced to land in some inaccessible area due to bad weather.

Officials in the chief minister's office are also hopeful. Their hopes are based on the fact that an Indian Air Force aircraft which flew over the area did not pick up any signals which indicate a crash.

According to chief secretary P. Ramakant Reddy, the helicopter was equipped with Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), capable of automatic transmission on a frequency of 121.5 and 243 mega hertz which would have activated in crash landing or in case of any unforeseen eventuality.

The Dornier 228 aircraft which took off from air base, air command, Yelahanka near Bangalore and capable of picking up ELT frequency signals, did not pick up such signals despite flying over the area where the helicopter went missing.