Bandipora: An Army Cheetah helicopter crashed in Baraub area of Gurez in Bandipora district on Friday, while on a routine mission to evacuate an ailing soldier from a forward post.
The helicopter lost communication contact with the forward post at Gujran, Baraub. A search operation on foot was immediately launched by the Indian Army alongside search and rescue helicopters which were pressed into service. The wreckage of the crashed helicopter was found in a snow bound Gujran Nallah area of North Kashmir’s Bandipora. Pilot and the co-pilot of the helicopter were grievously injured in the crash and were immediately evacuated to Command Hospital, Udhampur.
Major Sankalp Yadav, 29 years old, the co-pilot succumbed to his injuries at 92 Base Hospital. The injured pilot is critical, however stable and is presently in ICU at 92 Base Hospital. Events leading to the crash of the helicopter are being ascertained.
Maj Sankalp Yadav was commissioned in 2015 and was a resident of Jaipur, Rajasthan. He is survived by his father. (KNT)
