3 army officers killed in Cheetah chopper crash

Kolkata, Nov 30: Three army officers died and another was critically injured when a Cheetah helicopter crashed inside the Suk military base in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district on Wednesday, a defence ministry spokesman said. The crash occurred around 10.30 a.m. near the helipad inside the Suk military base. A junior commissioned officer was critically injured. The deceased were Major Sanjeev Lathar, Major Arvind Bazala and Lt. Col. Rajneesh Kumar, the spokesman said..

Major Lathar was the pilot and Major Bazala the co-pilot of the il-fated chopper. Lt.Col. Kumar was a passenger. “It was a routine mission operating from Suk and the crash happened when the chopper was coming in to land,” according to the spokesman.

The ill fated helicopter was following another helicopter with a senior official of 33 Corps. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered. (IANS)