Guwahati, Oct 22: The Army has constituted a Court of Inquiry to investigate the causes of the crash of an Advanced Light Combat helicopter (ALH)) of the Indian Army on Friday in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district. Also, the Search and Rescue operation has ended with the recovery of the bodies of all the five occupants of the chopper, officials said on Saturday.
The crash took place on Friday morning in Migging village, around 25 km from the district headquarters. The helicopter, which took off from Likabali (in Assam), was on a regular sortie.
Defence spokesman Lt. Col Mahendra Rawat quoting the reports said that the weather was good for flying operations on Saturday.
“The pilots had more than 600 combined flying hours on ALH-WSI and over 1800 service flying hours between them. The aircraft was inducted into service in June 2015… Prior to the crash, the Air Traffic Control had received a ‘May Day’ call suggesting a technical or mechanical failure,” he said.
The deceased personnel have been identified as Maj. Vikas Bhambhu, Maj. Mustafa Bohara, CFN Tech AVN (AEN) Aswin K V, Hav(Opr) Biresh Sinha, NK(Opr) Rohitashva Kumar.
“The Indian Army offers deepest condolences and stands firmly with the bereaved families,” Lt. Col Rawat said.
He further informed that the joint search operation was launched immediately after the mishap with teams from the Army and Air Force, and that reaching the site of crash was extremely challenging in terms of hills with steep gradients and thick jungle.
One MI-17, two Advanced Light Helicopters and three columns of the Indian Army were deployed in the search operations.
Another defence spokesman said the cause of the crash at this stage is not known, and details are being ascertained. Since the site of the crash is not connected by road, more details are still awaited.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu tweeted: “Shocked to hear about the news of Advanced Light Combat Helicopter crash near Tuting area in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The State Government has rushed the rescue team to the accident site and providing all assistance.”
Shocked to hear about the news of @adgpi Advanced Light Combat Helicopter crash near Tuting area in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The State Government has rushed the rescue team to the accident site and providing all assistance.https://t.co/QiYrmnCwBQ
— Pema Khandu པདྨ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་། (@PemaKhanduBJP) October 21, 2022
“Received very disturbing news about Indian Army’s Advanced Light Helicopter crash in Upper Siang District in Arunachal Pradesh. My deepest prayers,” tweeted Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh.
Received very disturbing news about Indian Army’s Advanced Light Helicopter crash in Upper Siang District in Arunachal Pradesh. My deepest prayers 🙏 pic.twitter.com/MNdxtI7ZRq
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 21, 2022
This was the second incident of an Army chopper accident in the state this month.
On October 5, a pilot was killed after a Cheetah helicopter crashed during a routine sortie in the forward areas near Tawang.
