Two pilots killed after Army helicopter crashes in Arunachal

Two pilots on board a Cheetah helicopter of the Army were killed when it crashed near Mandala in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday morning.

The chopper, which was flying an operational sortie near Bomdila, lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 9.15 am, Lt Col Mahendra Rawat, PRO Defence Guwahati said.

''An Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter flying an operational sortie near Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh was reported to have lost contact with the ATC at around 09:15am today. It is reported to have crashed near Mandala, West of Bomdila. Search parties have been launched,'' he said.

According to reports, a Lt Col and a Major were on board the Cheetah moving from Senge to Missamari when the Cheetah crashed near Mandala.

Rohit Rajbir Singh, the superintendent of police, Special Investigation Cell (SIC), said villagers had found the crashed chopper ablaze in Dirang, and informed district officials.

"Villagers from Bangjalep at Dirang located the chopper around 12.30 pm," Singh said.

The area has no mobile connectivity and the weather is extremely foggy with visibility as low as five meters, he said.