Cheetah helicopter crashes mid-flight in Arunachal Pradesh, two pilots missing

GUWAHATI: A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army has crashed near Mandala, west of Bomdila, in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday, a defence spokesperson said here. Two pilots on board were reportedly missing.

The chopper, which was flying an operational sortie near Bomdila, lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 9.15 am, Lt Col. Mahendra Rawat said.

“It crashed near Mandala, west of Bomdila. Search parties have been sent to the spot,” he said, adding that more details were awaited.

Mi 17 medium twin-turbine transport helicopters, HAL Dhruv (light utility helicopters), Cheetah Helicopter, Mil Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter, AN 32s transport aircraft, HS-748 transport aircraft a