A helicopter belonging to the Indian Air Force crashed in the skies over Arunachal Border along India’s border with China, killing all the six in-mates.

Manufactured in Russia, the Mi 17 V5 transport chopper of the IAF met with the unfortunate accident early in the morning on Friday near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and 12 km from inside the State’s border with China.

All the seven personnel on-board the ill-fated chopper were killed instantly.  The chopper was flying across Chuna in the Yangstse sector of the State when the mishap occurred, resulting in the demise of five IAF personnel and two Army personnel.

The chopper was carrying out a routine air maintenance mission and had only taken off minutes back from Tawang when it met with the accident.  It may be recalled that the chopper was widely used to evacuate people caught in recent floods in Rajasthan and neighbouring Gujarat.