New Delhi: Two pilots died after an Indian Army Cheetah helicopter crashed near the Mandala hills area in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday. The wreckage of the aircraft was found near village Banglajaap, east of Mandala.
"With regret we inform that the pilot and the co-pilot of the helicopter lost thier lives in the accident. An investigation is being ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident," the Army said in a statement. Lt Col VVB Reddy and Major Jayanth A were the two pilots martyred in the chopper crash.
The chopper, carrying a lieutenant and a major, had taken off from Sange village at 9 am and was headed towards Missamari in Assam's Sonitpur district when the tragdy happened.
The helicopter, which was flying an operational sortie, lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 9.15 am, Lt Colonel Mahendra Rawat said.
Lt Col Mahendra Rawat, PRO Defence Guwahati said, "An Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter flying an operational sortie near Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh was reported to have lost contact with the ATC at around 9:15 am today. It is reported to have crashed near Mandala, West of Bomdila."
According to Rohit Rajbir Singh, the superintendent of police, Special Investigation Cell (SIC), the villagers had found the crashed chopper ablaze in Dirang and informed the district officials.
"Villagers from Bangjalep at Dirang located the chopper around 12.30 pm. It is still burning," news agency PTI quoted Singh as saying.
The area has no mobile connectivity and the weather is extremely foggy with visibility as low as five meters, the police officer added.
It is to be noted that there are around 200 Cheetah and Chetak helicopters in service with the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Army at present.
Last month, Army Chief General Manoj Pande said the Indian Army is looking at inducting around 95 Light Combat Helicopters and 110 Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) in the future as part of boosting its overall combat aviation profile.