Army helicopter with five on board crashes in Arunachal Pradesh, four bodies recovered

Itanagar, October 21, 2022

At least four people died when an Army Aviation Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH WSI) crashed in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh this morning, official sources said.

The Defence spokesman in Tezpur said a total of five personnel were on board the ill-fated helicopter, and the search and rescue (SAR) team had recovered the bodies of four of them till now.

The helicopter had taken off from Lekabali and crashed at Migging, south of Tuting, he said.

The spokesman said search and rescue operations were in progress and joint teams of the Army and Air Force had been launched for the purpose.

"The search and rescue parties have reached the crash site, the search is in progress, updates awaited," he said.

The search and rescue team included one MI17 helicopter, two ALH and three columns of the Indian Army.

IANS adds:

"There were five people on board. There is very little chance of survival of the missing soldiers," a senior district official told IANS over phone from district headquarters Yingkiong.

The crash took place in Migging village, around 25 km from the district headquarters. The helicopter was on a regular sortie, the official said.

Since the crash site is not connected by road, more details are still awaited.

Upper Siang Superintendent of Police, Jummar Basar, said the crash site is a mountainous region, and it would take time to complete the search operation.

This was the second incident of Army chopper accident in the state this month. On October 5, one pilot was killed after a Cheetah helicopter crashed during a routine sortie in the forward area near Tawang.

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."

"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.

NNN