Helicopter Crash

An Indian Army Cheetah Helicopter crashed near Mandala, Arunachal Pradesh, on March 16. The helicopter was performing an operational sortie near Bomdila, when it was reported to have lost contact with the air traffic control (ATC.) Search parties have been organied, and operations are underway to look for the crew in the helicopter. Furthermore, this is not the first time such tragic crash was reported in AP.

In a tragic incident, eight UN peacekeepers were killed in a plane crash on March 30. The incident occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the UN peacekeepers were on their way in a UN helicopter. At first, the officials lost contact with the helicopter and later confirmed the crash. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased, over a tweet.

Madhulika Rawat, wife of General Bipin Rawat passed away in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu, along with her husband. She was the president of the Army Wives Welfare Association, while engaging regularly in social services. Furthermore, she studied psychology at Delhi University, and later got married to Bipin Rawat when he was a captain in the army. They are now survived by two daughters. 

At least eight people went missing and are feared dead after a helicopter crashed into Kamchatka peninsula lake in Russia's far East. There were 16 tourists on board and some of them managed to escape via luggage doors. The rescue team was dispatched to the scene. "Thick fog may have caused the pilot to land on the water surface thinking it was land," a police source said.

The Indian Army's ALH Dhruv helicopter crashed in Ranjit Sagar Dam on August 3, which is situated on the border of Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district and Punjab's Pathankot district. The source in Army said, ''Initial reports from the ground suggest that two pilots have been recovered safely.'' However, authorities have launched search operations. Reportedly, the helicopter took off for a routine flight from Pathankot.