Northern Army Commander suffers facial bruises in chopper mishap

Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh escaped with "facial bruises" after the helicopter he was travelling in "force-landed" in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

Army sources said the bruises suffered by the Army Commander are minor in nature and there is no danger to his life. A computed tomography (CT) scan was also conducted on him to rule out any serious injuries.

The chopper, a Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter belonging to the Indian Army, developed technical snags while carrying nine crew members and passengers, including Lt Gen Singh. It force-landed in a general area in Mandi near Poonch town of Jammu and Kashmir.

The aircraft was being flown by Army pilot Lieutenant Colonel B.S. Nambiar, while his co-pilot was a Naval pilot.

"The Naval co-pilot has sustained a serious back injury from the impact of the force-landing while a technician is suspected to have sustained a leg fracture. Medical examinations have been conducted upon all nine crew members and passengers. There is no danger to their lives, said an Army source.

The first respondents after the incident were local villagers in the Mandi area. Sources said they came forward to help the injured crew and passengers, before an emergency team was rushed to the spot.

The Dhruv is a twin-engine five-ton class advanced light helicopter indigenously developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

In September a single-engine HAL Cheetah helicopter had crashed in Bhutan while on a training sortie, killing an Indian Army pilot and a Bhutanese captain on board.

( With inputs from IANS )