An Army aviation Cheetah helicopter crashed near Mandala, West of Bomdila during an operational sortie on Thursday, March 16. According to reports, the helicopter lost contact with the ATC at around 9.15 AM on Thursday morning.
According to reports, the chopper with 2 pilots on board had taken off from Senge village in West Kameng district at 9 am on Thursday and was enroute to Missamari, Assam, with the estimated time of arrival being 09.45 am.
The chopper lost contact midway and could not be located. At 12.30 pm information was received from villagers of Bangjalep, in Dirang that a crashed chopper has been located and was still burning.
A search and rescue teams of army, SSB and police have left for the spot. Inclement weather is hampering the operations
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In October 2022, five Army personnel died in a helicopter crash of the Indian Army near Migging village in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district, about 25 km from Tuting town. This was the second incident of an Army helicopter accident in the state this month. On October 5, an Indian Army pilot lost his life when a Cheetah helicopter crashed near Tawang area of Arunachal Pradesh.
Between March 2017 and December 2021, 31 people lost their lives in accidents involving 15 military helicopters that included four ALH, four Cheetah, two ALH (WSI), three Mi-17V5, an Mi-17 and a Chetak, according to official details.
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