Army's crashed helicopter was on China border sortie

BAREILLY: It has now come to light that Indian Army's ill-fated Cheetah helicopter that crashed on Wednesday, killing three Army officers, was returning from China border after surveillance.

The chopper was returning from a reconnaissance mission at the Indo-China border in Munsiyari, Pithoragarh.

According to informed sources, the chopper had taken off on surveillance after top brass at the Army headquarters in Bareilly received an alert about the build-up of Chinese troops near the border. Intelligence reports indicate that there was also apprehension of firing from both sides.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the three officers were cremated at their home towns in different parts of the country.

It has also come to light that the chopper had taken off from Bareilly at 6.30 am on Wednesday, instead of 7.49 am that was previously stated, and crashed while landing on its return.

Unconfirmed reports also claimed that the helicopter remained in air for more than an hour and 20 minutes and the reconnaissance mission was reportedly mentioned in a report by the authorities here to top army brass, including the Defence headquarters.

Sources said that the helicopter, belonging to 246 Army Aviation Base and flown by Major Abhijai Thapa, Major Vikas Varyani and Captain Avinash Yashwant Somvanshi, the three officers belonging to 39 R&O Flight unit, had safely conducted the sortie and were returning to the base when a technical snag developed in the chopper.

According to sources, the problem was promptly brought to the notice of air traffic controller (ATC) by the pilots, who desperately tried to rush back to the base safely. Unfortunately, the pilots had nearly reached the base when rotors of the helicopter reportedly broke down even as the pilots frantically tried to push the fuel ejection button to drain out excess fuel. In between, the copter caught fire and came down crashing at a spot near the base around 7.50 am.

Talking to TOI, defence ministry PRO Gargi Malik refused to comment on the issue and denied any knowledge about the same. "It has not been brought to my notice by Army authorities," she said.