New Delhi: On Thursday, Cheetah helicopter of Indian Army has crashed near Mandla Pahari area of Arunachal Pradesh. A search operation has been launched to trace the pilots. PRO, Defense Guwahati Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said that an Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter was on an operational sortie near Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh. At around 09:15 AM, it was reported to have lost contact with its ATC. A search operation has been launched.
New Delhi: An Indian Army helicopter crashed near Mandla in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district on Thursday morning. The pilot and co-pilot of this helicopter died in the accident. Both the pilots – Lt Col VVB Reddy and Major Jayant A. -Previously reported missing. According to the army, the helicopter lost contact with the air traffic controller around 9:15 am.
#LtGenRPKalita #ArmyCdrEC & All Ranks offer tribute to the supreme sacrifice of Lt Col VVB Reddy & Maj Jayanth A, in the line of duty at Mandala, #ArunachalPradesh while carrying out operational flying of Cheetah Helicopter. #IndianArmy stands firm with the bereaved families pic.twitter.com/XimeZQ0pan
— EasternCommand_IA (@easterncomd) March 16, 2023
After this, five search teams of Indian Army, Sashastra Seema Bal and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were sent to search for the helicopter. Its wreckage was found near village Banglajap in Mandla. The army has said that a court of inquiry is being conducted to ascertain the cause of the accident.
This helicopter had taken off from Sange village of the district at 9 am and was heading towards Misamari in Sonitpur district of Assam. A lieutenant and a major were on board. Lieutenant Colonel Mahendra Rawat said that the helicopter lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 9:30 am.
Superintendent of Police of Special Investigation Branch Rohit Rajbir Singh had said that villagers in Dirang saw the crashed helicopter burning and informed the officials of the district administration. He said that there is no ‘mobile connectivity’ in that area and there is so much fog that the visibility has reduced to just five meters.
PRO, Defense Guwahati Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said that an Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter was on an operational sortie near Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh. At around 09:15 AM, it was reported to have lost contact with its ATC. A search operation has been launched.
He further said, “the helicopter had taken off from Sela village and was heading to Misamari. Around 11 o’clock we got the information that it was missing. After this, a WhatsApp message was sent to the villagers. Army and SSB were also involved in the operation. At around 12.30 pm, a helicopter was reported to have crashed near Mandla village. Our team is reaching the spot.”
