2 pilots involved in Cheetah helicopter crash lose their lives: Army officials

New Delhi: Indian Army Cheetah helicopter crashed near the Mandala hills area of Arunachal Pradesh and during the search operations, the Indian Army, found both the pilots involved to have lost their lives. The Cheetah helicopter flying an operational sortie near Bomdila was reported to have lost contact this morning and was later reported to have crashed.

#UPDATE | Both the pilots involved in the crash have lost their lives: Army officials https://t.co/wfC2uNwbs4

— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2023

Earlier, Public Relations Officer (PRO), Defence Guwahati Lt Col Mahendra Rawat informed that the helicopter lost contact with the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) and as it was reported to have crashed, the officials began a search operation.

As per Arunachal Pradesh police, the chopper, en route to Missamari from Senge village, lost contact midway. It could not be located, but around 12.30 pm villagers from Bangjalep, Dirang PS informed the police that they found a crashed helicopter.

The state police informed that two pilots were on board and the search & rescue teams of the Indian Army, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and police left for the spot. Police added that the area had no signal and the weather was extremely foggy, with just 5 meters of visibility.

Further details regarding the cause of the crash and the investigation are awaited.

June 2019 witnessed a similar crash, killing 13 Indian Air Force personnel. AN-32 aircraft crashed after taking off from Assam’s Jorhat, while it was headed for Arunachal Pradesh’s Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground (ALG). On March 12 this year, an Air Force Mi-17 helicopter made a precautionary landing at Peelwa village near Jodhpur.