Army chopper crash: Bodies of deceased pilots flown to home states

GUWAHATI: The bodies of the two pilots killed in an Army helicopter crash in Arunachal Pradesh were flown to their home states on Friday, a defence spokesperson said here.

The mortal remains of Lt Col. VVB Reddy have been sent to Hyderabad and that of Maj. Jayanth A to Madurai, Defence spokesperson Lt Col. Mahendra Rawat said.

The bodies were flown by a special military plane after a wreath-laying ceremony at Tezpur.

The duo was killed when a Cheetah helicopter of the Army, on an operational sortie from Missamari in Assam to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, crashed near Mandala in West Kameng district on Thursday morning.

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

Lt Col. Reddy’s body is expected to reach Hyderabad at 6 pm. It will be taken to his native place at Yadadri in Telengana by road.

The aircraft with the co-pilot’s body is scheduled to reach Madurai at 8 pm, the spokesperson added.