Pilots sent Mayday call moments before Indian Army helicopter crash

Tribune News Service

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, October 22

Moments before the Indian Army aviation helicopter crash on Friday morning near Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh, pilots had given a ‘Mayday’ call.

‘Mayday’ is an emergency call pilots make over radio in case of any major issue with the aircraft.

“Prior to the crash, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) had received a mayday call suggesting a technical or mechanical failure, “Army officials in Delhi said.

This will form the focus of the Court of Inquiry, which has been immediately constituted to investigate the causes of the accident, the official said.

The weather was good for flying operations. The pilots had more than 600 combined flying hours on the copter, an advanced light helicopter (ALH)-weapons systems integrated. They had over 1,800 service flying hours between them. The copter was inducted into service in June 2015, being the latest with Shakti engines.

The copter with five on board crashed at 10:45 am. The bodies of four Army personnel were recovered on Friday evening from the crash site, while the mortal remains of the fifth personnel were located today.

The area is forested. The IAF and Army had launched copters to search the site. A search party was sent on foot.

The Army said names of those who died would be released after notifying their families.

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