IAF Apache Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing In Ladakh, Pilots Safe

The incident took place on Wednesday and both the pilots on board are safe, an IAF statement said. It has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the incident.

IAF's Apache helicopter after it made a precautionary landing near Bhind. (File Photo)

Source : PTI

An Indian Air Force Apache helicopter made an emergency landing in Ladakh and sustained damage due to the difficult terrain, the IAF said on Thursday.

During the process of this landing, the chopper sustained damage due to undulating terrain and high altitude.

The incident took place on Wednesday and both the pilots on board are safe, an IAF statement said. It has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the incident.

"An IAF Apache helicopter carried out a precautionary landing during an operational training sortie in Ladakh on April 3. During the process of this landing, it sustained damage due to undulating terrain and high altitude," the IAF said in a brief statement.

"Both the pilots on board are safe and have been recovered to the nearest airbase. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause," it said. 

IAF Helicopters Conduct Trial Landing In J-K 

Five IAF helicopters, including the recently inducted US-manufactured Chinook, landed on a stretch of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Tuesday as part of an Emergency Landing Facility drill for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir.

With this, Jammu and Kashmir became the first Union territory to operationalise an Emergency Landing Facility (ELF). Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are the three states where these emergency landing strips are currently operational.

As per officials, two US-manufactured Chinook, one Russian-made Mi-17 and two Advance Light helicopters (ALH) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) landed on the Wanpoh-Sangam stretch of the national highway linking Kashmir with the rest of the country in the early hours of Tuesday.

The entire drill ended by 2.50 am, during which the helicopters landed at the stretch and carried an exercise of picking up troops lying on the ground, the officials said, adding the exercise was held without any problems, PTI reported.