Guwahati, August 6
A crew member of an airborne helicopter died after he fell through the chopper door that had opened all of a sudden few minutes after take off from Namsai helipad in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh today.

Deputy Commissioner of Lohit district R K Sharma informed The Tribune over phone that crew member Dhananjoy Roy fell off from the 20-seater MI-172 helicopter of Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) that had just taken off from Namsai to Tezu with five crew members and five passengers on board at 11 am. The crew member fell to death after the helicopter door had opened suddenly, he said.

The chopper then returned to Namsai to off-load passengers and launched a search for his body that was spotted from the air at Latho village about 15 km from Namsai by road.