History of chopper crashes in Arunachal Pradesh: ‘Bad weather’ the usual culprit

Air Force officials have often blamed bad weather for the crashes, while a few others were accorded to technical snags. (File)

Arunachal Pradesh is prone to chopper crashes, it seems, as Friday morning’s incident brings the total number of crashes up to five, with four of them having occurred in the Tawang region of the state, since 2010. Air Force officials have often blamed bad weather for the crashes, while a few others were accorded to technical snags.

The high statistic, however, paints a grim picture for aviation, both military as well as civil, in the northeastern state, which has even lost a chief minister to the same.

Here is a list of major chopper crashes in Arunachal Pradesh since 2010:

April 19, 2010: Crash kills 17 passengers and two crew members 

Mi-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force crashed close to Tawang at Bomdir on Friday, November 19, 2010, claiming the lives of 19 people aboard. The deceased, all of whom were IAF personnel, included a lieutenant Colonel.

Reports said that the chopper was on its way to Guwahati and had crashed shortly after takeoff from the Army Brigade Headquarters at 12:04 pm.

READ MORE| Crash Kills 19 in Tawang District

April 19 and 30, 2011: Helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh CM Dorjee Khandu crashes

Two crashes happened in a single month in 2011; The first killing 17 persons onboard and the second killing then Arunachal CM Dorjee Khandu.

On April 19, A Mi17 Pawan Hans chopper crashed while trying to land in Tawang. While 17 people died, including two children, five others, including two pilots, had a narrow escape, but ended up having serious burn injuries. One of the survivors, passenger, had succumbed to injuries after more than a month in the hospital.

The helicopter, which “exploded in a ball of fire”, according to some witnesses of the incident, crash-landed in a deep gorge.

On April 30, the helicopter carrying CM Dorjee Khandu lost contact with ground control approximately 20 minutes after it took off. Khandu’s body was recovered near Sela Pass along its eastern side, which is close to the border with China.

The single-engine, five-seater Pawan Hans chopper had lost contact with ground control 20 minutes after it took off from Tawang at 9:50 am on April 30 for Itanagar.

It took the search and rescue party five days to locate the body. Khandu is the second chief minister of the country to have been killed in a helicopter crash.

READ MORE| CM Dorjee Khandu dies in chopper crash in Arunachal Pradesh

READ MORE| 17 killed in helicopter crash in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh

August 12, 2015: Pawan Hans Helicopter crash kills 3

Eight Days after a search and rescue operation for a Pawan Hans helicopter went missing after taking off from Khonsa in Tirap district on August 4 in Arunachal Pradesh, bodies were discovered by commandos of the High Altitude Warfare School. The three occupants of the aircraft, including two pilots and a passenger were killed in the crash.

READ MORE| Pawan Hans crash: Bodies of three occupants spotted

July 4, 2017: IAF chopper crash kills 3

A chopper of the IAF went missing after it was deployed for a search and rescue mission in area Sagalee of Papum Pare district after the road to Seppa was washed off by landslides triggered by heavy rains. Officials again blamed the crash on the inclement weather in the region.

The wreckage of the chopper was found in the state’s Papum Pare district the next day, with three charred bodies. The body of the fourth victim was not immediately found, and a search was launched to locate the same.

According to officials, several teams had been dispatched to locate the debris of the helicopter, the team which discovered the crash site, described it as lying in a deep gorge.

READ MORE | IAF helicopter crash: 3 charred bodies recovered in Arunachal Pradesh

October 6, 2017: IAF chopper crash leaves seven dead

Five IAF crew members and two Army officers were killed after an Airforce’s Mi-17 V5 helicopter crashed near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The chopper was on an air maintenance mission when it crashed.

The chopper, Mi-17V-5, is considered to be one of the world’s most advanced military transport helicopters. It was acquired by the Indian Airforce from Russia in 2016, for its capability to transport cargo inside the cabin and on an external sling. Mi-17V-5 also ranks among the most technically advanced helicopters of the Mi-8/17 type, incorporating the best engineering solutions from previous generations.

READ MORE | IAF chopper crashes in Arunachal, seven dead