Indian Army chopper crash Update: All 5 onboard ALH helicopter dead, bodies recovered

The India-made Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) made by HAL for the Indian Army and Indian Air Force crashed yesterday, bodies of all 5 Army personel onboard have been recovered.

A total of 5 Personnel were on board when the ill-fated chopper crashed near Migging, around 25 km south of Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh. The advanced light helicopter (ALH), carrying five Army personnel including two pilots, was on regular sorties when it crashed at 10.43 am on Friday. The team has recovered the mortal remains of all five individuals today. With the recovery of the fifth and last body, the search and rescue mission in the October 21 helicopter crash in Arunachal Pradesh has concluded, Army spokesperson stated. As per reports, three columns of army personnel were conducting the operation on foot, while one MI17 and two ALH choppers were pressed into service to trace the personnel.

The Indian Army Aviation Advance Light Helicopter (Weapon Systems Integrated) - ALH WSI based at Likabali (Assam), with five personnel on board had on Friday crashed at 10:43 am near Singging village, 25 kilometres away from the Tuting headquarters in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Friday. The bodies of four Army personnel were recovered on Friday evening from the crash site in a densely wooded mountainous area, around 35 km from the border with China, he said. The cause of the crash is not yet known and details are being ascertained, the officer said.

"It is reported that the weather was good for flying operations. The pilots had more than 600 combined flying hours on ALH-WSI and over 1,800 service flying hours between them. The aircraft was inducted into service in June 2015," he said. Before the crash, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) had received a 'May Day' call suggesting a technical or mechanical failure, he said.

"This will form the focus of the Court of Inquiry, which has been immediately constituted to investigate the causes of the accident. Names of the personnel will be released after notification to the next of kin," Lt Col Walia said. The Army helicopter, also known as HAL Rudra, had taken off from Likabali in the Lower Siang district.

The HAL Rudra is an attack helicopter manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Army. It is a weapon system integrated (WSI) Mk-IV variant of the Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH) and is the first armed helicopter produced indigenously in India.

This is the second accident involving an Army helicopter in Arunachal Pradesh this month. A Cheetah helicopter crashed in Tawang district on October 5 and claimed the life of one of its two pilots. According to records, Arunachal Pradesh has witnessed 13 crashes since 1995, and 47 people were killed in them.

(With inputs from agencies)