India Today photo.
Itanagar/Guwahati: After the unfortunate incident of a Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army crashing in Arunachal Pradesh, two pilots onboard have been confirmed dead, PTI reported citing a defence spokesperson.
The accident happened near Mandala in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday morning. The deceased officers have been identified as Lt Colonel VVB Reddy and his co-pilot Major Jayanth A, Defence spokesperson Lt Colonel Mahendra Rawat, informed.
He further said that the crashed craft was on an operational sortie from Missamari in Assam's Sonitpur district to Arunachal's Tawang. It came to face an "inconducive weather" while its return to Missamari before it crashed, he said.
"The helicopter lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 9.15 am. Five search parties of the Indian Army, SSB and ITBP were immediately launched. The wreckage of the aircraft was found near the Banglajaap east village of Mandala," Rawat said.
"A Court of Inquiry is ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident," he added.
Superintendent of police, Special Investigation Cell (SIC) Rohit Rajbir Singh said that villagers found the chopper ablaze in Dirang, and they informed district officials.
"Villagers from Bangjalep at Dirang located the chopper around 12.30 pm," he said.
According to him, the area has no mobile connectivity, and the weather was extremely foggy as visibility went below five meters, PTI reported.