Army chopper crashed in Ranjit Sagar Dam in Punjab's Pathankot district, pilot and co-pilot safe

An Indian Army helicopter crashed in the Ranjit Sagar Dam in Punjab's Pathankot district on Tuesday morning.

Both the pilot and the co-pilot of the ill-fated chopper are safe and were rescued by the divers, presses by the dam authorities soon after the crash.

Pathankot SSP Surendra Lamba informed that the pilot and the co-pilot have been rescued by divers. They were rushed to the hospital as they were in a state of shock.

Belonging to the 254 Army Aviation Squadron, the chopper which had taken off from Mamun Cantonment, Pathankot, about 10 minutes before it came crashing down on the dam.

The vehicle was on low-level sorties when it pilots lost control over it, an official disclosed.

The Army authorities have marked enquiry to ascertain the exact cause of the crash by experts from the Army.

Eyewitnesses revealed that the tourists who were visiting the dam, noticed the chopper coming down into the Dam and heard a loud thud. Everyone ran helter-skelter and raised alarm.

The dam employees deployed at the site informed senior official and subsequently the police and Army authorities were given information.

Sanyam Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner, Pathankot claimed to have dispatched a team of senior administrative officials to the spot to take stock of the situation. The Dam officials were also assisting the army officials to find out the exact cause of the crash.