Indian military helicopter crashes in occupied Jammu and Kashmir

NEW DELHI: An Indian military Cheetah helicopter crashed in occupied Jammu and Kashmir reportedly due to technical malfunction, foreign media reported on Monday.

A report quoted the Indian army officials that the helicopter was crashed in IOJK’s Reasi district during a training flight following a technical fault while both pilots managed to eject safely.

The spokesman of India’s Northern Command Col Abhinav Navneet said, “Both pilots from Udhampur were on a training sortie to Reasi in a Cheetah helicopter. It developed a technical snag and then got into wires but both pilots are safe.”

“It was not even crash landing. Actually, we can call it hard landing,” he added. The statement added that the chopper was crashed at around 11.30 am at Rud Nullah in Mahore sub-division of IOJK’s Reasi district.

Earlier in September last year, An Indian military helicopter on a training mission had crashed in Bhutan, killing two pilots, India’s army said.

The single-engine Cheetah helicopter was on its way from Khirmu in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh to Yongphulla in Bhutan.

One of the pilots who died was from the Indian Army while the other was from the Royal Bhutan Army.

“Ground search and rescue were launched immediately from Yongphulla. The wreckage has been located,” the Indian Army said in a statement.