NUZHAT NAZAR

ISLAMABAD: An Army Aviation MI-17 helicopter crash-landed near Hudor village, about 12 kilometres from Thakdas Cantonment, during a routine training flight on Monday morning, resulting in the shahadat of all five crew members on board.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the helicopter developed a technical fault around 1000 hours before going down. The shuhada included Pilot in Command Major Atif, Co-Pilot Major Faisal, Flight Engineer Naib Subedar Maqbool, and Crew chiefs Havaldar Jahangir and Naik Amir.

ISPR stated that such training missions are a regular feature of Army Aviation, designed to maintain operational readiness for diverse tasks ranging from combat support to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The Pakistan Army reiterated its commitment to ensuring preparedness across all operational domains despite the inherent risks involved in training missions.