E-Paper
Army helicopter Cheetah crashes in Arunachal, both pilots dead
The Army helicopter lost contact with the control room at around 9.15am and is believed to have crashed near Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh. Both pilots have been killed in the crash.
An Army helicopter flying an operational sortie near Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh crashed on Thursday killing both the pilots of the helicopter, Army sources confirmed hours after the crash was reported. The helicopter was reported to have lost contact with the air traffic control at around 9.15am. The crash took place near Mandala, West of Bomdila. Search parties were launched to trace the two pilots who were missing. According to reports, a Lt Col VVB Reddy and Major Jayanth A were the two pilots of the Cheetah which was moving from Senge to Missamari when it crashed.
“An Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter flying an operational sortie near Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh was reported to have lost contact with the ATC at around 09:15am today. It is reported to have crashed near Mandala, West of Bomdila. Search parties have been launched,” Lt Col Mahendra Rawat, PRO Defence Guwahati said in a statement issued early in the day.
“Five search parties of Indian Army, SSB and ITBP were immediately launched. The wreckage of the aircraft was found near Village Banglajaap East of Mandala. With regret we inform that the pilot and the co pilot of the helicopter lost thier lives in the accident,” the Army's Eastern Command in Kolkata issued a statement confirming the deaths.
The villagers found the crashed chopper around 12.30pm and it was still burning. Rohit Rajbir Singh, the superintendent of police, Special Investigation Cell (SIC) said the area where the chopper crashed has no mobile connectivity and the weather is also extremely foggy with visibility as low as five metres.
(With inputs from Bureau, agencies)
