Two pilots missing after helicopter crash in Siachen, J and K

Srinagar/Jammu, Apr 11 (UNI) Two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots are missing after their Cheetah helicopter crashed during a route sortie to Siachen glacier, the highest battle ground on earth, in Jammu and Kashmir today.

However, a Jammu report said both the pilots were killed in the crash.

A defence ministry spokesman in Srinagar said rescue operation has been launched by the Army and IAF helicopters in the glacier area to locate pilots and the wreckage of the helicopter.

''We cannot confirm whether the pilots were killed or have ejected to safety'', he told UNI. ''For us, the pilots are missing, he added.

He said the helicopters pressed into rescue mission have so far not located the crashed helicopter or pilots because of poor visibility and heavy snowfall in the area since early this morning.

The helicopter took off from the base camp at the glacier this morning at 0700 hours for a routine sortie to main camp of Siachen glacier, he said in Srinagar said, adding that it later lost contact with the control tower.

It was now confirmed that it had crashed somewhere on the Glacier, he said, adding that the fate of the pilots was not immediately known.

However, defence sources in Jammu confirmed that both the pilots had been killed in the crash. Their names were not yet known, they added.

UNI