IAF chopper force-lands in Arunachal, crew safe

Itanagar: An Mi-17 chopper of the Indian Air Force (IAF), with two pilots and three crew members on board, force-landed in eastern Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday after encountering a technical snag, defence sources said.

All five of them are safe, having sustained just minor injuries, the sources said.

The chopper was on a maintenance sortie when it had to force-land in Lohit sector of the state.

A court of inquiry will be ordered to ascertain the reasons behind the incident, the sources added.

In September, two pilots were killed when an Army helicopter crash-landed on a hill in Shiv Garh Dhar area near Patnitop tourist resort in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The month before, two pilots were killed after an Army helicopter crashed at Ranjit Sagar Dam lake near Pathankot.