IAF helicopter crashes near China border, seven personnel killed
A court of inquiry has been ordered into the crash. (Representational) A court of inquiry has been ordered into the crash. (Representational)
Five personnel of Indian Air Force (IAF) and two of Indian Army on board an IAF Mi-17 V5 helicopter were killed when it crashed and burst into flames Friday morning in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, close to the China border. The crash took place around 7 am when the helicopter, which had taken off from an Army helipad at Khrimu on the outskirts of Tawang town, was approaching an Army location to drop supplies — it was the second sortie of the day for the helicopter. The crash site, inaccessible by road, is around 120 km north-east of Tawang town, close to the China border.
A court of inquiry has been ordered into the crash. The Ministry of Defence said the helicopter was carrying supplies to a forward post of the Indian Army in hilly terrain. The helicopter crashed close to the dropping zone and caught fire immediately.
The seven on board were identified as Wing Commander V Upadhyay, captain of the helicopter, Squadron Leader S Tewari, co-pilot, Master Warrant Officer A K Singh, Sergeant Gautam Kumar, Sergeant Satish Kumar, Sepoy H N Deka and Sepoy E Balaji. The Ministry said all sustained fatal injuries in the crash.
Army personnel from the nearest location managed to reach the crash site — inaccessible by road — within a few hours of the incident. Tawang SP M K Meena said the seven bodies were airlifted and brought to Khrimu. Meena said the bodies were flown to the IAF base in Tezpur in Assam around noon after legal formalities were completed at Khrimu.
This is the second helicopter crash in Arunachal Pradesh in three months. On July 4, three IAF personnel were killed when an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) crashed during a mission to rescue flood-affected people in the state. The ALH had lost contact soon after take-off from Sagalee. The bodies of Wing Commander Mandeep Singh Dhillon, Flight Lieutenant Pramod Kumar Singh and Sergeant Rajendra Yashwant Gujjar were recovered from the crash site three days later.
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