<p>A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army crashed near the Mandala hills area in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday (March 16), killing the pilot and co-pilot on board. The pilots were identified as&nbsp;Lieutenant Colonel VVB Reddy and Major Jayanth A.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Taking to Twitter, the Eastern Command of the army said, "Lieutenant General RP Kalita, Army Cdr EC&nbsp;&amp; All Ranks offer tribute to the supreme sacrifice of Lt Col VVB Reddy and&nbsp;Maj Jayanth A, in the line of duty at Mandala, Arunachal Pradesh while carrying out operational flying of Cheetah Helicopter. Indian Army stands firm with the bereaved families."</p>

<p>Earlier in the day, Lieutenant Colonel Mahendra Rawat, the public relations officer (PRO) at Defence Guwahati, told the news agency ANI that&nbsp;the helicopter was flying an operational sortie near Bomdila and was reported to have lost contact with the ATC at around 9.15 am.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LtGenRPKalita?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LtGenRPKalita</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ArmyCdrEC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ArmyCdrEC</a> &amp; All Ranks offer tribute to the supreme sacrifice of Lt Col VVB Reddy &amp; Maj Jayanth A, in the line of duty at Mandala, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ArunachalPradesh?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ArunachalPradesh</a> while carrying out operational flying of Cheetah Helicopter. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndianArmy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IndianArmy</a> stands firm with the bereaved families <a href="https://t.co/XimeZQ0pan">pic.twitter.com/XimeZQ0pan</a></p>
— EasternCommand_IA (@easterncomd) <a href="https://twitter.com/easterncomd/status/1636348278974324737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>Earlier, the Arunachal Pradesh Police said search and rescue teams of the army, the SSB and the police left for the crash site. However, no visuals were available as the area had no signal.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This incident in Arunachal Pradesh more than two years after 13 personnel of the Indian Air Force (IAF) died after their AN-32 aircraft crashed on June 3, 2019, after taking off from Assam`s Jorhat. The aircraft was headed for Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh when it lost contact with ground authorities at around 1 pm.</p>

<p>After massive search and rescue operations, &nbsp;the wreckage of the aircraft was located by a Mi-17 chopper. The remains of IAF personnel were retrieved on June 20 from Arunachal Pradesh where the aircraft crashed.</p>

<p>On January 28 this year, two fighter jets of the Air Force crashed, killing one pilot and injuring two others, in an apparent mid-air collision while on exercises south of the capital New Delhi. The crash involved a Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30, carrying two pilots, and a French-built Mirage 2000.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Both these aircraft took off from the Gwalior air base, around 50 kilometres east of where they came down.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE</strong></p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" loading="”lazy”" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe></p>

<p>You can <strong>now write for wionews.com</strong> and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us <strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form">here</a>.</strong></p>


A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army crashed near the Mandala hills area in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday (March 16), killing the pilot and co-pilot on board.

A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army crashed near the Mandala hills area in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday (March 16), killing the pilot and co-pilot on board. The pilots were identified as Lieutenant Colonel VVB Reddy and Major Jayanth A. Taking to Twitter, the Eastern Command of the army said, "Lieutenant General RP Kalita, Army Cdr EC & All Ranks offer tribute to the supreme sacrifice of Lt Col VVB Reddy and Maj Jayanth A, in the line of duty at Mandala, Arunachal Pradesh while carrying out operational flying of Cheetah Helicopter. Indian Army stands firm with the bereaved families." Earlier in the day, Lieutenant Colonel Mahendra Rawat, the public relations officer (PRO) at Defence Guwahati, told the news agency ANI that the helicopter was flying an operational sortie near Bomdila and was reported to have lost contact with the ATC at around 9.15 am. #LtGenRPKalita #ArmyCdrEC & All Ranks offer tribute to the supreme sacrifice of Lt Col VVB Reddy & Maj Jayanth A, in the line of duty at Mandala, #ArunachalPradesh while carrying out operational flying of Cheetah Helicopter. #IndianArmy stands firm with the bereaved families pic.twitter.com/XimeZQ0pan — EasternCommand_IA (@easterncomd) March 16, 2023 × Earlier, the Arunachal Pradesh Police said search and rescue teams of the army, the SSB and the police left for the crash site. However, no visuals were available as the area had no signal. This incident in Arunachal Pradesh more than two years after 13 personnel of the Indian Air Force (IAF) died after their AN-32 aircraft crashed on June 3, 2019, after taking off from Assam`s Jorhat. The aircraft was headed for Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh when it lost contact with ground authorities at around 1 pm. After massive search and rescue operations, the wreckage of the aircraft was located by a Mi-17 chopper. The remains of IAF personnel were retrieved on June 20 from Arunachal Pradesh where the aircraft crashed. On January 28 this year, two fighter jets of the Air Force crashed, killing one pilot and injuring two others, in an apparent mid-air collision while on exercises south of the capital New Delhi. The crash involved a Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30, carrying two pilots, and a French-built Mirage 2000. Both these aircraft took off from the Gwalior air base, around 50 kilometres east of where they came down. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

India: Army helicopter crashes near Mandala hills in Arunachal, both pilots killed

cheetah-helicopter

Cheetah Helicopter, News on Cheetah Helicopter, stories on Cheetah Helicopter, articles on Cheetah Helicopter, Cheetah Helicopter stories at Wion, Cheetah Helicopter news, Cheetah Helicopter latest news

cheetah helicopter

India: Army helicopter crashes near Mandala hills in Arunachal, both pilots killed