Army helicopter with 5 on board crashes in Arunachal Pradesh; 4 bodies found

An Indian Army helicopter crashed in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Friday morning killing at least four of the five personnel on board, officials said.

According to the army, the advanced light helicopter was on a regular sortie when it crashed at 10:43am around Migging, south of Tutting.

The chopper took off from Likabali in Lower Siang district and crashed in a remote area with thick tree cover, about 140km from the district headquarters of Upper Siang.

As soon as news of the crash was reported, a joint search and rescue operation of army and the Indian Air Force was launched. Three columns of army personnel were also sent to the accident site . One MI17 and 2 advanced light helicopters were also pressed into service.

“A total of five personnel were on board and during the search and rescue operations, the team has recovered the mortal remains of four individuals till now,” a statement by Tezpur-based defence spokesperson Lt Col. Amrinder Singh Walia said.

The statement added that the cause of the crash is not known yet and investigations are underway to find more details.

Friday’s crash was the second helicopter accident in Arunachal Pradesh this month.

On October 5, a Cheetah helicopter of army crashed near Tawang during a routine sortie killing one pilot and injuring the second one.