A Court of Inquiry has been constituted to probe the accident.
Guwahati:
All the army personnel aboard the helicopter that crashed in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district on Friday have been killed, sources confirmed, adding that a fifth body was recovered today.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) had received a ‘May Day’ call just before the accident, suggesting a technical or mechanical failure, the military said the weather was clear, and the pilots were experienced. The army said in a statement, however, that the terrain is “extremely challenging” in terms of steep slope hills and dense forest.
The ‘May Day’ call refers to a distress signal given to an aircraft crew to ATC or ground staff.
“The pilots had over 600 combined flight hours on ALH-WSI and over 1800 service flight hours between them. The aircraft was put into service in June 2015,” it said.
A Court of Inquiry has been constituted to probe the accident.
The Indian Army Aviation Advanced Light Helicopter (Weapon System Integrated) – ALH WSI at Likabai, Assam had crashed near Miging village on Friday morning. Four bodies were recovered yesterday and the army has said it is trying to recover the fifth.
Indian Army Aviation Advance Light Helicopter (Weapon System Integrated) – ALH WSI based at Likabali (Assam) crashed on 21 October 2022 at 1043 hrs in General Area Miging (South of Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh).
The crash site is not connected by any road, but air rescue teams have been dispatched to the scene.
The scene showed chunks of debris in flames.
The helicopter carrying Army personnel was on a regular flight after taking off from Likabali on Friday morning. The accident happened at 10.43 am.
As there are no motorable roads leading to the village, except for a hanging bridge, three joint teams of both Army and Air Force along with one Mi-17 and two Dhruv helicopters were engaged in the rescue operation. Local villagers have also been told to join the rescue operation.
The ALH (WSI), also known as the Rudra Mark IV, is a powerful attack helicopter designed and developed by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to fill very specialized roles in the Indian Army and IAF. has been done.
The aviation wing of the Indian Army is deploying the Weapon System Integrated (WSI) version of the advanced light helicopter Rudra in the region, further strengthening its strategic missions along the border line with China in eastern Ladakh.