Army helicopter crash: Search operation for missing pilots resumes in J-K’s Kathua

Jammu, August 4

The search operation to trace the missing pilots of an Army helicopter that crashed into the Ranjit Sagar dam lake in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua resumed on Wednesday, officials said.

The crash occurred on Tuesday morning. The rescue operation was suspended at night.

The dam is located about 30 km from Pathankot in Punjab and the lake in which the helicopter crashed is shared by Punjab and J-K governments.

Deep sea divers of the Navy are also part of the operation, the officials said.

The depth of the crash site has been measured to be over 200 feet.

Some pieces of the helicopter were found on Tuesday after forces and boats were mobilised for the search operation, Kathua Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) R C Kotwal had said.

Eyewitnesses had said the chopper was flying over the lake when it suddenly came down and crashed into the water.

During Tuesday’s search operation, a helmet, two big size bags, one shoe, I-cards and some helicopter parts were recovered. PTI