Indian Army’s Helicopter Crashes in Arunachal Pradesh, Both Pilots Dead

Both the pilots — Lt Colonel VVB Reddy and Major Jayanth A — lost their lives in the crash.

A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army crashed near Mandala, west of Bomdila, in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday, 16 March, a defence spokesperson confirmed. Image used for representative purpose.

(Photo: The Quint) 

A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army crashed near Mandala, west of Bomdila, in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday, 16 March, a defence spokesperson confirmed.

Both the pilots involved in the crash — Lt Colonel VVB Reddy and Major Jayanth A — have lost their lives, the army confirmed.

"An Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter flying an operational sortie near Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh was reported to have lost contact with the Air Traffic Control at around 09.15am today. It is reported to have crashed near Mandala, West of Bomdila. Search parties have been launched," said Lieutenant colonel Mahendra Rawat, PRO Defence, Guwahati.

Meanwhile, the Arunachal Pradesh police said that "An Army chopper lost contact midway and could not be located while it was en route to Missamari from Senge village. At around 12.30 pm villagers from Bangjalep, Dirang Police Station informed that a crashed chopper was found," as quoted by news agency ANI.

"Search and rescue teams of Army, SSB and police have already left for the spot. As of now, no photos are available as the area has no signal. Weather today is extremely foggy and visibility is 5 meters," the police added.

(This is a developing story. It will be updated with more details.)