Wreckage of IAF chopper found in Arunachal Pradesh's Pampunpare district

The wreckage of the IAF chopper, which went missing with three crew members on board in Arunachal Pradesh, was found in Pampunpare district. All crew members are reported dead, according to Times Now.

The Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) of the IAF engaged in flood rescue mission in the state went missing on Tuesday at 3.50 pm after it took off from Pilputu helipad near Sagalee. The helicopter was evacuating people stranded in Sagalee and Dambuk due to massive landslides caused by heavy rains.

Tezpur-based Defence spokesperson Lt. Col. Sombit Ghosh said on Tuesday that the chopper had gone out for flood rescue operations from its base in Jorhat on Tuesday morning.

Sagalee additional deputy commissioner J Pertin said the IAF helicopter, which was pressed into evacuation of people stranded due to floods in the area, had made five sorties since it arrived there at around 10.30 am on Tuesday.

"In the sixth sortie to Naharlagun, the crew for unknown reasons did not take the last batch of nine civilians and took off from Sagalee," he added.

Sagalee is north of Itanagar, while Dambuk in lower Dibang Valley district is about 350 kilometres east from here.

In May last, a Sukhoi-30 fighter jet with two pilots of Indian Air Force had crashed near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

-PTI