Indian Air Force Mi-17 chopper crash lands in Kedarnath; all onboard safe

An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter crash-landed in Kedarnath, Uttrakhand on Tuesday, police said. The accident took place when the Mi-17 chopper was trying to land far from the Kedarnath shrine.

There were eight people -- six passengers, pilot and co-pilot -- onboard but all are safe with minor injuries, an official told IANS.

The hilly area is quite risky for helicopters.

On June 10, 2017, a chopper belonging to a Mumbai-based private aviation company crashed in Badrinath while taking off, killing an engineer onboard.
 

A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.

More MI 17 incidents

The Mi-17 V5 is a Russian built medium-lift military transport chopper. It is an advanced medium multirole helicopter, based on the Mi-8/17 series with more powerful propulsion systems, upgraded main rotor, gear systems and fuselage and advanced avionics. The Mi-17V-5 is based on the Mi 8 helicopter airframe and is one of the most advanced aircraft of the Mi-8/17 helicopter family.

Five IAF personnel, including two pilots, and two army men were killed when the Mi-17 V5 medium-lift chopper crashed and burst into flames in October last year near Tawang.

An Advanced Light Helicopter of the IAF had crashed at Saglee in Papum Pare district on July 4, 2017, claiming the lives of all four on board.

India's love for MI 17

A contract for Mi-17V-5 helicopters, which was supposed to be signed last year, is now expected to be finalised soon, a top Russian official told IANS recently.

"Negotiations with the Indian side on the delivery of 48 Mi-17V-5 helicopters have been completed; we expect to sign the corresponding contract in the first quarter of 2018," CEO of Russia's Rostec State Corporation, Sergey Chemezov, told IANS in an interview.