Army Chopper crashes in Arunachal: An Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter crashed near Mandala Hills in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday. According to army officials, both the pilots who were in the chopper have died.
The chopper was on operational sortie near Bomdila in Arunachal when it lost contact with the ATC at around 9:15 AM.
It was reported to have crashed near Mandala, West of Bomdila, Lt Colonel Mahendra Rawat, PRO Defence Guwahati informed.
At least five search parties of Indian Army, SSB and ITBP have launched the search operation. 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," Army officials said.
Rohit Rajbir Singh, the superintendent of police, Special Investigation Cell (SIC), explained that 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. It is still burning," Singh said.
The area has no mobile connectivity and the weather is extremely foggy with visibility as low as five meters, he added.
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