Indian Air Force Mi-17 transport chopper crashes in Kashmir's Budgam, 2 pilots dead

After the incident took palace, sorties of IAF fighter jets have been stalled from Srinagar airways and the civil aviation activities have been suspended from Srinagar airport due to security reason.

An Indian Air Force Fighter jet has crashed in Budgam district in Central Kashmir on Wednesday morning.

New Delhi: An Indian Air Force Mi-17 transport chopper crashed in Budgam district in Central Kashmir on Wednesday morning. Two pilots died after the chopper that took off from Srinagar airbase, crashed in an open field in Budgam this morning. The helicopter crashed in an open field near Garend Kalaan village in Budgam at 10.05 am, as per the report. The police have rushed to the spot. It was earlier reported that the crashed aircraft was MiG-21, however, in a fresh report, it as been reported that it was Mi-17 transport chopper that collided. As per the sources, the crash is the result of some technical fault in the jet. It broke into two and caught fire immediately. After the incident took palace, sorties of IAF fighter jets have been stalled from Srinagar airways and the civil aviation activities have been suspended from Srinagar airport due to security reason. Airports in Leh, Jammu, Srinagar and Pathankot are on high alert.

 Meanwhile, PTI quoted unnamed officials reporting that Pakistani jets have violated the Indian airspace as they entered border areas of Nowshera sector in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.

This development comes at the back of the pre-dawn strike by the Indian Air Force on a Jaish terror camp in Pakistan yesterday killing a large number of terrorists and trainers of the Pak-based terror group preparing to carry out suicide attacks in this country. In a pinpointed and swift air strike that lasted less than two minutes, India pounded Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp in Pakistan, killing up to 350 terrorists and trainers who were moved there for their protection after the Pulwama attack, officials said. (More details awaited)