Air Force helicopter crashes in Jharkhand, 3 killed

Pakur (Jharkhand): Three Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel, including a pilot and a co-pilot, were killed on Saturday when a Chetak helicopter carrying them crashed in bad weather at a remote place in Jharkhand.

The chopper was on its way to Baghdogra air base from air force station Kalaikunda in West Bengal when it encountered bad weather and crashed near Sinharsi air base along the border of Pakur and Godda districts of Jharkhand, Eastern Command spokesperson and a senior state police official said.

The deceased were two pilots and a co-pilot of Chetak, Deputy Inspector General of Police D K Pandey said in Pakur.

He said the crash took place in an area under Sundarpahari police station around 4 pm. Bad weather was stated to be the cause behind the crash.

The IAF has ordered an inquiry into the incident to ascertain the causes behind the accident, the spokesperson said.

This is the second crash of Chetak in a fortnight. On August 27, another Chetak helicopter had crashed moments after take-off during a training mission at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport in Bangalore.