Twelve persons were killed when an MI-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed at Bomdir in Tawang district of western Arunachal Pradesh close to the India-China border around noon on Friday. The dead include a Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army and 11 IAF personnel. Indian Air Force (Eastern Command) spokesperson Wing Commander Ranjeev Sahoo said the Guwahati-bound MI-17 chopper crashed minutes after it had taken off from the helipad at the brigade headquarters in Tawang at 12:04 pm. The victims included a Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army (Engineers),two Flight Lieutenants and nine other crew members of the IAF. All the bodies were recovered within four hours of the crash,shifted to the brigade headquarters,and identified. Sources in Tawang quoting eye-witnesses said people heard a loud sound in the sky,following which the helicopter caught fire and went down into a gorge. Tawang is around 3,500 metres above sea level. This is the second major air crash in Tawang and fourth in the state in recent times. On November 14,1997,a four-seater Cheetah with then union minister of state for Defence NVN Somu,Major General Ramesh Nagpal and two Majors (both pilots) on board crashed around 40 kms northeast of Tawang,killing all the four occupants. In June last year,14 army personnel were killed when an AN-32 aircraft crashed after it took off from Mechuka in West Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh. In May 2001,then education minister of Arunachal Pradesh Dera Natung and six others were killed in a Pawan Hans helicopter crash near Sessa in West Kameng district.
