Three Army officers killed in copter crash in West Bengal

Three Army officers were killed and a junior commissioned officer was critically injured on Wednesday when a Cheetah helicopter crashed at Sukna Military Camp in West Bengal.

Lt Colonel Rajneesh Kumar, Major Sanjeev Lathar and Major Arvind Bazala died by the time they reached hospital, and the condition of a jawan was critical.

Army officials said the five-seater chopper crashed around 11.45 am when it was returning to the camp’s helipad at Sukna, near Silgirui, from a routine mission. The Army’s 33 Corps is based at Sukna and all aircraft of the Army are run by Army Aviation Corps.

While three officers died on the spot, a JCO was evacuated and admitted to a hospital in a critical condition. “The copter was on a routine mission. It crashed as it was trying to land, a spokeswoman of the Army’s Eastern Command said.