Kohima: In Nagaland’s Phek district, a helicopter crashed when it was landing at Meluri helipad. This accident made six people injured who are occupants of a Pawan Hans helicopter, and officials of the state government and the National Disaster Management Authority.
The Director-General of Police L.L. Doungel has shared the details of the accident with the media.
The ill-fated helicopter was on a routine flight from Dimapur airport to Meluri.
“An initial report indicates that two of the six occupants were seriously injured. We have been told that they are being rushed to Kohima for further medical treatment,” he said.
Pawan Hans officials could not be contacted for comments. The accident happened because there was “no visibility while landing due to extreme dust,” a government official said on condition of anonymity.
The latest accident does nothing to assuage the growing perception that Pawan Hans Helicopter Services Ltd has been running a very accident-prone service.
In August this year, a Pawan Hans chopper crashed in Arunachal Pradesh killing a government official, a pilot and a crew member.
Commercial chopper services had to be stopped in Arunachal Pradesh until 2013 when Pawan Hans restarted the service in the state and other parts of the region.
Pawan Hans has been operating chopper services in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, as well as a daily Guwahati-Tawang service, for more than 15 years.