9 IAF MEN KILLED IN CHOPPER COLLISION OVER JAMNAGAR
Ahmedabad,India : In a tragic accident, nine Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel, including five officers, were killed in a mid-air collision of two MI-17 helicopters near Sarmat field firing range at Sarmat village in Jamnagar.
“The helicopters crashed just five minutes after taking off from Jamnagar Air Force Station for a routine flying training mission. All nine personnel on board succumbed to their injuries,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Gerard Galway told DNA.
Sources said that there were four personnel on one helicopter while five others were in the second chopper.
Shortly after the incident, a court of inquiry was ordered by the Indian Air Force to determine the cause of such an ‘unusual’ mishap.
Recounting the tragedy, eyewitnesses in the Sarmat village said that they saw the tails of two helicopters colliding into each other, due to which both helicopters lost balance. They said that it seemed as if the collision occurred due to error of judgment.
However, sources in the IAF said that the possibility of a technical error cannot be ruled out.
The collision was so gruesome that all personnel flying in both helicopters died on the spot. Sources said that both helicopters crashed at a distance of around 125 metre from each other. Both helicopters were loaded with ammunition as well, the sources added.
31/08/2012 : Daily News & Analysis.
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