Another chopper crashes in Nagaland, six injured

 A day after six pilgrims and a pilot died in a chopper crash at the base camp of Vaishneo Devi temple in Katra, yet another chopper crashed in Nagaland.

Luckily, there have been no deaths, but six occupants of the ill-fated Pawan Hans helicopter survived the crash on Tuesday with grievous injuries.

According to Nagaland Police sources, there were six people in the chopper, including the pilot and his deputy.

The chopper, which was on a scheduled to fly from Dimapur airport to Meluri in Phek district bordering Myanmar, reportedly crash-landed near the Meluri Helipad, some 165 kms away from state capital Kohima. Apart from the crew, the passengers were from the state disaster management authority and were on a flood survey to the area, government sources added. Two of the injured are said to be critical and all the injured and rescued survivors have been shifted to Kohima, police sources informed Deccan Herald. The accident has once again raised doubts on Pawan Hans Helicopter Limited that provides service in five of the eight states in Northeast.

Pawan Hans Services in Arunachal Pradesh was suspended following a tragic crash in August this year where a young IAS officer along with the pilot and the co-pilot lost their lives.

In 2011, the then Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu died in a Pawan Hans chopper crash.  In the same year, a Pawan Hans Mi-172 Helicopter carrying 23 people including the crew crash landed ahead of the Tawang helipad in Arunachal Pradesh.