Gauchar: 19 people, including Air Force and para-military personnel, were on Tuesday feared killed when a IAF helicopter crashed in bad weather near Gaurikund in Uttarakhand during rescue operations.
An IAF spokesperson said in Delhi, “One Mi-17 V5 chopper on a rescue mission from Gauchar to Guptkashi and Kedarnath while returning from Kedarnath crashed north of Gaurikund.” Among those killed were three IAF officers, she said.
A senior Air Force officer in Gauchar said the ill-fated Mi-17 chopper had made two sorties to the Kedarnath area since this morning and was on its third sortie when it crashed.
The crash occurred in “difficult” weather conditions created by rains and fog, he said.
The chopper belonged to a unit from Barrackpore Air Force Station in West Bengal under the Eastern Air Command.
A Court of Inquiry has been order to investigate the crash, the spokesperson said.
The IAF said its operations in the area will continue. IAF had started inducting Mi-17 V5 choppers only last year after 80 of them were ordered from Russia.
This is the second incident of a helicopter crash this week in the hill state.
A private helicopter carrying relief materials for the rain-affected people in Rudraprayag district had crashed on Sunday near Gaurikund leaving the pilot injured.
