Army wives’ group writes to PM on helicopter crashes

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 8

Days after Lt Colonel Saurabh Yadav died in an Army aviation helicopter crash in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang, the Indian Army Wives’ Agitation Group has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, terming the Cheetah and Chetak series of copters “flying coffins”.

Lt Col Yadav was flying a Cheetah when it crashed on October 5. His co-pilot was injured. The Cheetah choppers are based on a 1950s design and several attempts to induct their replacement have failed to fructify over the past 15 years. These copters, weighing over 3.5 tonne, fall in the light utility helicopter (LUH) class. These are the lightest copters in the Army and IAF fleet.

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