Guwahati, April 19
Seventeen persons, including three crew members, were killed on the spot and six others including two crew members grievously injured when a Pawan Hans Helicopter MI 172 exploded into a ball of fire just before crashlanding at Tawang helipad in Arunachal Pradesh at around 1-50 pm. today.

Tawang district Deputy Commissioner Gamli Padu said the helicopter was just few metres above the touchdown ground at Tawang Helipad when it had turned into a ball of fire and crashed.

The ill-fated chopper had taken off from Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Guwahati to the picturesque monastery township of Tawang near China border with 18 passengers and five crew members on board at around 12.30 pm.

The two crew members and four passengers, who survived with grievous injuries, were rushed to the civil hospital at Tawang. They were being air-lifted to Guwahati tomorrow, the official informed.

The chopper crew was led by Captain Barun Gupta and Captain Tiwari. Pawan Hans runs regular chopper between Guwahati and Tawang five days a week.

A report from Itanagar said the passengers who were killed in the mishap have been identified as Mrs Anitha, Master Rishi (minor), Mr A Baruah, Dr Tandon, Dr Asif, Mrs R Asif, Mrs Zahira, Ms Z Asif, Master Asif (minor), Mr Abhijit Sharma, Mr A K Saraogi, Ms N Bothra, Col Sharma, Mr W Bhatia, and Mr T Mustafa. Three crew members who also died in the crash are Captain AK Tiwari, Dixit and maintenance crew Kulkarni. Those who survived the crash include Captain Barun Gupta, and passengers Randiv Kumar Chaturvedi, Dorjee Wangdi, Rishi Bothra, Rajendra Pal and Mrs Karishma Saraogi.

Tawang, located at an elevation of over 11,000 feet in the Eastern Himalayas close to the Chinese frontier, is the headquarter of the district by the same name. Apart from a Brigade headquarter of the Indian Army.

It was only in November last year that 12 army personnel including an officer were killed when a Mi-17 chopper of the IAF had met with an accident immediately after taking off from the brigade helipad at Tawang.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu who was at Tawang to attend the review meeting of North-Eastern states on rural development programmes along with Union Rural Development Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh, expressed shock at the tragedy.