Army chopper crash: Both pilots pronounced dead

A defence spokesperson reported that an Indian Army Cheetah chopper crashed on Thursday near Mandala, located west of Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh.

Both the pilots have been declared dead. The deceased officers have been identified as Lt Colonel VVB Reddy and his co-pilot Major Jayanth A.

A court of inquiry into the crash has been ordered by the Army, according to a statement by a defence spokesperson.

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The Army chopper, which was flying an operational sortie, lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 9.15 am, Lt Colonel Mahendra Rawat said.

Five search parties of the Indian Army, SSB and ITBP were immediately launched. The wreckage of the aircraft was found near Banglajaap east village of Mandala, Rawat said.

The Army chopper, carrying a lieutenant and a major, had taken off from Sange village in the district at 9 am and was headed for Missamari in Assam’s Sonitpur district.

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“It crashed near Mandala, west of Bomdila. Search parties have been sent to the spot,” he said.

Rohit Rajbir Singh, the superintendent of police, Special Investigation Cell (SIC), said villagers had found the crashed chopper ablaze in Dirang, and informed district officials.

“Villagers from Bangjalep at Dirang located the chopper around 12.30 pm,” Singh said.

The area has no mobile connectivity and the weather is extremely foggy with visibility as low as five meters, he said.

(With agency inputs)