Three crew members, including two pilots, died on Sunday after a Coast Guard helicopter crashed at Porbandar airport in Gujarat.
The incident occurred at 12.10 pm, Porbandar Superintendent of Police Bhagirathsinh Jadeja said. A Coast Guard Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) crashed during landing at Porbandar Airport at 12:10 pm, police said. The crash occurred during a routine training sortie.
The helicopter, carrying three crew members, went down at the Porbandar airport. All three were rescued from the wreckage and rushed to a hospital in Porbandar with severe burns, officials said. Despite medical efforts, all three crew members succumbed to their injuries at the hospital, confirmed Inspector Rajesh Kanmiya of Kamala Baug police station.
Indian Coast Guard officials confirmed the deaths and said that an investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing. “The reasons leading to the incident are being investigated by a Board of Inquiry,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
“We salute the three brave souls of the Indian Coast Guard who laid down their lives in the line of service to the Nation,” it added. The crash comes just two months after another Coast Guard helicopter went down in the sea.