1 pilot killed, another seriously injured as Army helicopter crash lands in J-K

A pilot of the Indian Army was killed and another was critically injured after an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)--Dhruv crash landed in Lakhanpur—the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir Monday evening, A Defence spokesman said.

The co-pilot, who has been put on ventilator, is critical.

Earlier Kathua district police chief, SSP Shailendra Kumar Mishra said, “A Dhruv helicopter of the Army crash landed near Lakhanpur. Two Army pilots have been injured in the incident. They have been evacuated to military base hospital in Pathankot.”

The incident occurred around 7.15 pm.

In October 2019 a Dhruv helicopter of the Indian Army carrying the then chief of the force’s Northern Command Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh and other officers had made an emergency landing following a technical glitch in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch.

The army’s Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) with Lt Gen Ranbir Singh and six other officers on board was on a sortie from Udhampur to Poonch when it developed a technical snag.