Srinagar, Mar 11 (KNS): A co-pilot of Army’s Cheetah helicopter was killed while its pilot was injured when it crashed during a routine mission in Gujran area of Tulail in Bandipora district.

 

A defence spokesperson in a statement issued to Kashmir News Service (KNS), said that an Army Cheetah helicopter crashed in Baraub area of Gurez in Bandipora district on Friday afternoon, while on a routine mission to evacuate an ailing soldier from a forward post. 

 

The statement reads that the helicopter lost communication contact with the forward post at Gujran. “A search operation on foot was immediately launched by the Indian Army alongside search and rescue helicopters which were pressed into service.” 

 

It reads that the wreckage of the crashed helicopter was found in a snow bound Gujran Nallah and pilot and the co-pilot of the helicopter were grievously injured in the crash and were immediately evacuated to Base Hospital, Srinagar. 

 

It reads that Maj Sankalp Yadav, the co-pilot succumbed to his injuries at 92 Base Hospital. “The injured pilot was further evacuated to Command Hospital, Udhampur. He is critical, but stable. Events leading to the crash of the helicopter are being ascertained.”

 

The statement reads that the braveheart, Maj Sankalp Yadav (29) was commissioned in Indian Army in 2015 and was a resident of Jaipur, Rajasthan. He is survived by his father. (KNS)