IAF chief visits Uttarakhand, says morale high despite crash

Dehradun, June 26: The morale of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is not going to be low no matter what happens, IAF Chief NAK Browne said at the site where a rescue helicopter crashed on Tuesday evening. He said the exact reason behind the chopper's crash could be known after the probe. The cockpit voice recorder of the fateful MI-17 V5was recovered while the IAF set up a court of inquiry to probe the reason behind the crash.

Twenty were feared dead after the helicopter crashed at Gaurikund. The deceased included five IAF officials. The helicopter had made two sorties to the Kedarnath area since morning on Tuesday and was on its third trip when it crashed.

The IAF had started inducting MI-17 V5 helicopters only last year after 80 of those were brought from Russia.

Browne, meanwhile, said most of the evacuation work in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand was completed and the rest of the work would be carried out once the weather got cleared.

Rescue operations continued to be affected by adverse weather conditions as heavy rain showed no signs of respite. Air operations were stalled in most places while ground operations were still continuing, reports said. Fresh threat of landslides were also aired.

OneIndia News