New Delhi: Two pilots were killed after an Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter flying an operational sortie near Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh bordering China crashed near Mandala, west of Bomdila, on Thursday.
The Army has ordered a court of inquiry into the crash, said a defence spokesperson. ‘An Army chopper lost contact midway and could not be located while it was en route to Missamari from Senge village. At around 12.30 pm villagers from Bangjalep, Dirang PS informed that a crashed chopper was found’, Arunachal Pradesh Police said. Police said the area has no signal and the weather was extremely foggy with a visibility of 5 metres.
The deceased pilots have been identified as Lt Colonel VVB Reddy and Major Jayanth A. Indian Army in its press release said, ‘An Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter flying an operational sortie near Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh lost contact with the ATC at around 09:15 AM on 16 March 23. Five search parties of the 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 you that the pilot and the co-pilot of the helicopter lost their lives in the accident. A Court of Inquiry is being ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident’.
Previously, 13 Indian Air Force personnel died after an AN-32 aircraft crashed on June 3, 2019 after taking off from Assam’s Jorhat. The aircraft was headed for Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh when it lost contact with ground authorities at around 1 pm. After a massive search and rescue operation for eight days, during which assets from several agencies were deployed, the wreckage of the aircraft was located by a Mi-17 chopper. The remains IAF personnel were retrieved on June 20 from Arunachal Pradesh where the plane crashed. The wreckage was located 16 km north of Lipo in Arunachal Pradesh at an elevation of 12,000 feet.
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