2 Indian Army pilots succumb to injuries after Helicopter crashes in J&K’s Udhampur
Visuals shared on social media showed the wrecked lightweight Cheetah helicopter\, on a hillside and locals trying to pull out the pilots.
A Cheetah helicopter of the Army aviation corps crash-landed in Shiv Ghar Dhar area of Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday morning, injuring its two pilots.
The seriously injured pilots were rushed to the command hospital in Udhampur. Later, senior army officials said both the pilots succumbed to their injuries during treatment.
Both the pilots were Major-rank officers, a senior army officer said.
The chopper had taken off from Nagrota, the headquarters of 16 Corps, this morning on a training sortie.
“Today during a training sortie in Patnitop area, Indian Army Cheetah Helicopter crash landed in Shiv Garh Dhar area in Udhampur district. Two pilots have been injured and evacuated to the hospital,” defence spokesperson Lt Col Devender Anand had said earlier in the day.
Some villagers were the first responders to the incident and they evacuated the injured pilots from the mangled aircraft.
This is second army helicopter crash in last seven weeks in Jammu and Kashmir. Last month, two pilots were killed after an army helicopter crashed into Ranjit Sagar dam. The body of one of the pilots is still missing.
