Pilots killed as another Indian army copter crashes in Occupied Kashmir
September 21, 2021 03:50 PM
Another Indian army helicopter crashed in Shiv Garh Dhar of Udhampur district, of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. Both the pilot and co-pilot have succumbed to their injuries, reported Xinhua news agency.
The helicopter crashed at Shiv Garh Dhar in Udhampur district, about 200 km south of Srinagar city. "There is a report that an army helicopter has crashed today in Udhampur," an Indian police official posted at the police control room in Jammu told Xinhua. "Police teams have been rushed to the spot and details are awaited."
Local media reports said two people on board (pilot and co-pilot) have been injured in the crash. While both the pilot and co-pilot were evacuated to a hospital, they later succumbed to their injuries.
Officials said excessive fog in the area has reduced visibility in the region, which may have led to the accident.
In a statement, the Indian army said, "Today during a training sortie in Patnitop area, an Indian Army Cheetah Helicopter crash-landed in Shiv Garh Dhar area in Udhampur district. Two pilots have been injured and evacuated to the hospital."
However, in a later update, it was said that both the personnel have passed away.
DIG Udhampur Suleman Chowdhry had said that the police received information and dispatched teams towards the spot in Shiv Garh Dhar. He added that due to the presence of excess fog in the area, visibility was low.
Rescue teams later managed to reach the spot while locals helped bring out the two injured army personnel who later succumbed to their injuries.
On August 3 last, a helicopter of the Indian army had crashed near Ranjit Sagar Dam lake in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district. The helicopter of the 254 Army Aviation Squadron took off from Mamun Cantt. The helicopter was carrying out low-level sorties in the Ranjit Sagar Dam area when it crashed.
The Weapon System Integrated helicopter had taken off from Pathankot (Punjab) and met with the accident during a routine sortie.
In January, a pilot was killed after an advanced light helicopter (ALH) Dhruv of the Indian army made a crash-landing in Kathua district.