Indian Army's Cheetah helicopter crashes near Mandala hills in Arunachal Pradesh, two pilots killed
"The helicopter lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 9.15 am. Five search parties of the Indian Army, SSB and ITBP were immediately launched. The wreckage of the aircraft was found near Banglajaap east village of Mandala," Rawat said.
Two pilots on board a Cheetah helicopter of the Army were killed when it crashed near Mandala in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday morning, a defence spokesperson said.
The deceased officers have been identified as Lt Colonel VVB Reddy and his co-pilot Major Jayanth A, he said.
Defence spokesperson Lt Colonel Mahendra Rawat said in Guwahati that the helicopter was on an operational sortie from Missamari in Assam's Sonitpur district to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
The flight encountered "inconducive weather" and was returning to Missamari when it crashed, he said.
"The helicopter lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 9.15 am. Five search parties of the Indian Army, SSB and ITBP were immediately launched. The wreckage of the aircraft was found near Banglajaap east village of Mandala," Rawat said.
"A Court of Inquiry is ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident," he added.
Rohit Rajbir Singh, the superintendent of police, Special Investigation Cell (SIC), said villagers had found the crashed chopper ablaze in Dirang, and informed district officials.
"Villagers from Bangjalep at Dirang located the chopper around 12.30 pm," Singh said.
The area has no mobile connectivity and the weather is extremely foggy with visibility as low as five meters, he said.
Click Here For Latest Updates On Stock Market | Zee Business Live
Get Latest Business News, Stock Market Updates and Videos; Check your tax outgo through Income Tax Calculator and save money through our Personal Finance coverage. Check Business Breaking News Live on Zee Business Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on YouTube.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
Top 7 Small Cap Mutual Funds With Best SIP Returns in 15 Years: No. 1 fund has converted Rs 10,000 monthly SIP investment into Rs 1.27 crore
Power of Compounding: How long will it take to build Rs 4 crore corpus with Rs 5,000, Rs 10,000, and Rs 15,000 monthly investment
Top 7 SBI Mutual Funds With Best SIP Returns in 15 Years: Rs 8,333 monthly SIP investment in No 1 fund is now worth Rs 1,06,51,565; here's what others have given
EPF vs VPF: At Rs 21,000 starting basic salary what will be your retirement corpus at 12% & 14% monthly contribution
07:31 PM IST