An Indian Army Cheetah helicopter crashed in the Baraum area of the Gurez sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, resulting in the killing of its pilot and injuries to the co-pilot, according to reports. The injured co-pilot has been rushed to a medical facility. Reports suggest that the chopper crashed when it was en route on a mission to rescue an injured soldier in the Gurez area. The Army helicopter crashed in north Kashmir's along Line of Control (LAC).
The search parties of the security forces are reaching the snow-bound area for the rescue of the chopper crew. The cause of the crash and casualties, if there is any, were not known immediately. However, an official told news agency PTI that the helicopter was about to land but "drifted away" because of the weather conditions. More details are awaited. According to a statement of the Ministry of Defence in November 2021, the replacement of the aircraft fleet of the defence forces including Cheetah and Chetak helicopters is reviewed from time to time keeping in view the operational requirements. The Government has planned replacement of these helicopters with Naval Utility Helicopter, indigenous Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) manufactured by HAL under “Buy (Indian-IDDM)” project and Russian built Ka-226T as “Buy & Make (Indian)”.