An Army Cheetah helicopter crashed in the Tulail area of Gurez in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district, killing the co-pilot and critically injuring the pilot, officials said.
The helicopter, on a routine mission to evacuate an ailing soldier from the forward post, lost contact with the forward post at Gujran, Baraub.
A search operation was set afoot immediately by the Indian Army and search and rescue helicopters were pressed into service. The wreckage of the crashed helicopter was found in the snow-bound Gujran Nallah area of Bandipora. The pilot and his co-pilot were injured in the crash and were immediately evacuated to the Command Hospital, Udhampur.
The co-pilot, Major Sankalp Yadav, 29, died of his injuries at the 92 Base Hospital. The injured pilot is critical but stable and is presently in the ICU at the hospital. Major Yadav was commissioned in 2015 and was a resident of Jaipur. He is survived by his father.
Events leading to the crash of the helicopter are being ascertained, officials said.
India accidentally fires missile into Pak
India recently said that due to a technical glitch it accidentally fired a missile that landed in Pakistan and said that it “deeply regretted” the incident. India’s defence ministry said that the accident occurred on Wednesday evening due to a technical malfunction during a routine maintenance check. India regretted the accident and said that there has been no loss of life. A high-level inquiry has been ordered.
“On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Inquiry,” India’s ministry of defence said in a statement.
“It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident,” it added. Pakistan military had, in a press conference on Thursday night, said that an unarmed Indian supersonic missile intruded 124 km into Pakistani territory in three minutes and 44 seconds and hit a private property near Mian Cha.
