Army's Cheetah helicopter crashes in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang, pilot killed
What's the story
In a tragic incident, an Indian Army pilot lost his life after a Cheetah helicopter crashed in Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday.
Another pilot was injured in the crash that took place around 10 am.
As per reports, the chopper was on a regular sortie with both pilots. The cause of the accident is yet to be determined.
Here's everything about the development.
Crash
Incident occurred during routine sortie
Army officials confirmed that a Cheetah helicopter crashed in Tawang, AP, close to India's boundary with China.
Defense spokesperson Col AS Walia told PTI that the crash happened during a routine sortie in a forward area. "Cause of the crash was not immediately known," he said.
The two pilots on board were rescued from the crash site and taken to the hospital.
Pilots
One pilot dead, second undergoing treatment
Lt Col Saurabh Yadav received critical injuries during the crash. He was rushed to the nearest Army hospital but succumbed to the injuries, NDTV reported.
The co-pilot, whose name is not known, is reportedly under treatment.
"With regret, we inform that one of the pilots, Lt Col Saurabh Yadav, who was critically injured succumbed to the injuries during treatment," the Army reportedly said.
Twitter Post
Take a look at the rescue operations
Tragic news coming from Tawang District in Arunachal Pradesh about an Indian Army Cheetah Helicopter crash. Praying for the survival of the pilots 🙏 pic.twitter.com/I6uhldhPbI
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 5, 2022
Helicopters
Army Cheetah helicopter also crashed in March
In March, another Cheetah helicopter crashed in Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the death of its pilot.
Bad weather has led to multiple chopper crashes in AP. Since 2010, 40 people lost their lives in six such crashes.
To recall, India's former Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, with 13 others, also died after Air Force's Mi-17 V5 chopper crashed in Tamil Nadu.