An Indian Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopter crashed at around 0659h on 06 Oct 17 after getting airborne from a helipad North of Tawang. This was the second routine air maintenance sortie of the day for the aircraft at a forward area.
The helicopter was carrying supplies to a forward post of the Indian Army in the hilly terrain. The helicopter crashed close to Dropping Zone and caught fire immediately. Seven defence personnel were onboard, included five Indian Air Force personnel Wg Cdr V Upadhyay, Captain of the aircraft, Sqn Ldr S Tewari, Co-pilot, MWO AK Singh, Flt Gnr, Sgt Gautam Kumar Flt Engr, and Sgt Satish Kumar, Flt Gnr and two Army personnel Sep HN Deka and Sep E Balaji, and all of them sustained fatal injuries during the crash. A court of Enquiry has been ordered to establish the cause of the accident.