Two officers killed in Army helicopter crash in J&K

SRINAGAR: An army helicopter today crashed in Bandipora district of central Kashmir, killing a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major who were piloting the chopper, an Army spokesperson said.

The Dhruv helicopter of Army's aviation squadron based at Manasbal crashed about 30 minutes after it took off during a training sortie this evening, killing the two officers -- Lieutenant Colonel R Gulati and Major Tahir Khan, he said here.

The chopper, which was on night flying training sortie, crashed at a hill in Safapora area of Bandipora, the spokesman said.

According to defence sources, the radio telephonic contact with the chopper was lost at 7.43 PM.