Jamnagar: In a tragic incident near the Jamnagar Air Force Station in Gujarat, as many as nine air force personnel on Thursday died in a mid-air collision as two MI 17 choppers collided five minutes after taking off on a sortie near the Sarmat firing range.
The Russian-made choppers were flying very close to each other when their upper rotors came in contact causing the collision.
"Nine IAF personnel – five officers and four other ranks – have been killed in the crash near Sarmat firing range, 15 km from Jamnagar city," an IAF spokesperson said in New Delhi.
The Air Force has ordered an inquiry but sources say a mid air collision is rare and the investigators will have to ascertain if standard operating procedures were violated by the pilots. Sources say if there was a deviation from standard operating procedures, then it would be a serious case of cockpit indiscipline.
Asked why the choppers were flying so close to each other, the spokesperson said that the training mission involved such flying.
Indian Air Force officers, police officials and Jamnagar municipal corporation fire brigade reached the spot shortly after the crash. Fire brigade personnel doused the burning wreckage.
According to villagers, who witnessed the accident, the two helicopters were flying very close to each other when the upper rotors of one aircraft hit the other causing the collision. The tail rotor of one of the choppers also snapped, eyewitnesses said.
IAF officials said that the choppers after the collision had turned into a fire ball.
The spokesperson said that a court of inquiry has been ordered to determine the reasons behind the crash. The names of those killed have not been disclosed by IAF.
(With Additional Inputs from PTI)
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