Indian Army Cheetah Helicopter Crashes Near Tawang, One Pilot Dead

Cheetah Helicopter Crash: Army Officials told ANI that one pilot is dead in the crash while other details are being ascertained.

Indian Army HAL Cheetah helicopter | Image used for representational purpose only. ( Image Source :Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0 )

One pilot was killed after an Indian Army Cheetah helicopter crashed at around 10 am on Wednesday in the forward area near Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, during a routine sortie. Army Officials told ANI that two pilots were present in the Cheetah helicopter during the crash. Both the pilots were successfully evacuated and taken to the nearest military hospital.

One of the pilots Lt Col Saurabh Yadav, who was critically hurt during the crash, succumbed to the injuries during treatment. The second pilot is under medical treatment.

"The cause of the crash at this stage is not known. Details are being ascertained," Indian Army officials told ANI.

A pilot lost his life after a Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army crashed near the Tawang area of Arunachal Pradesh today: Army officials pic.twitter.com/loUu7SLGXv

— ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2022

This is the second Cheetah helicopter crash reported this year. In March, an Indian Army Cheetah helicopter crashed near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. While the pilot of the chopper had died, his co-pilot sustained injuries and survived.

Late last year, the former Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat died in Air Force's Mi-17 V5 chopper crash in Tamil Nadu. Apart from him and his wife 12 others also died during that December crash.

(This is BREAKING NEWS... More details to follow)