Arunachal: Search operation underway to trace black box of the Army chopper that crashed on October 21

The Army has launched a search operation to locate the missing black box of the ill-fated Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) that crashed in Arunachal Pradesh on October 21, killing five personnel on-board the chopper.

In order to recover the Black Box from the crash site near Migging, which is about 35 kilometres from the Chinese border, members of the 21 Para (Special Force) from Jorhat in Assam were airdropped there on October 22. 

“The location is heavily forested, which is making it difficult to find the Black Box,” an official confirmed while speaking on the search operation.

An army aviation Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) WSI helicopter which took off from Lekabali crashed on October 21 at 10:43 AM around Migging (South of Tutting) in Arunachal Pradesh.

Four of the crew members' remains were recovered at the crash site, which was in a heavily forested hilly location, in the evening of October 21. The fifth victim’s body was discovered the next day.

According to defence spokesperson, Lt Col A S Walia, the pilots of the ALH had called in a mayday just before the crash, indicating a potential technical or mechanical issue in the chopper.