The Indian Army's Dhruv helicopter that crashed in Jammu and Kashmir yesterday had two very experienced men flying it.
Lieutenant-Colonel Rajesh Gulati and his co-pilot Major Taher Hussain Khan had flown thousands of hours. Lieutenant Colonel Gulati was even a flight instructor - a position that entails flying over 1000 hours.
During Operation Meghrahat - the Army's flood relief mission in Kashmir - they had braved stones thrown at their choppers. They had always managed to accomplish their mission. But, yesterday something went horribly wrong.
The Army has ordered an inquiry into the incident. "We are looking at two possibilities -- a technical failure or an error of judgment by the pilots," a senior officer of the Indian Army told NDTV.
The chopper that crashed yesterday was the seventh Dhruv to have a fatal end since 2005. Altogether, the army has lost 16 machines since 2002.
Last July, the Indian Air Force (IAF) had lost two officers and five personnel when a Dhruv chopper crashed in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh. Late last night, search teams of the Indian Army recovered the charred bodies of the two pilots from the Kurshu forest.
The Indian Army files about 60 of these machines in six squadrons. Between the three forces - Army, Navy and Air Force - there are over 130 Dhruvs in active service.
North Korean Hackers Trying To Steal Military Secrets, Say US, Allies Visually Challenged Girl Sexually Assaulted By Sweeper In Hyderabad: Cops 2 Terrorist Supporters Arrested In J&K Amid Crackdown After Kathua Attack On CCTV, Murdered Woman's Last Moments In Bengaluru Hostel A House For Rahul Gandhi, Leader Of Opposition In Lok Sabha For BJP And Allies, Maharashtra Seat-Sharing Hits A Math Barrier Kerala Court Gives Madhya Pradesh Man 33-Year Jail Term For Raping Girl BJP "Totally Failed As Opposition": Ex Karnataka Minister Attacks Own Party "Should I Send Them To Lahore?": Bhagwant Mann On Protesting Farmers Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.