BSF chopper crashes near Ranchi, three killed

Ranchi - 19 Oct 2011: Three people including pilot, co-pilot and a technical staff ofBorder Security Force(BSF) died when a helicopter crashed on Wednesday morning in the jungles near Ranchi-Khunti border.

The chopper crashed at around 9 am and all the three people on board died. The chopper crashed around 20 minutes after taking off fromBirsa Munda airporthere.

Confirming the crash and death of the of three BSF personnelJharkhand Policespokesperson IG RK Mallik said that the chopper crashed due to some technical fault. "The Dhurv helicopter took off from the airport at around 8.40 am for Chaibasa and after few minutes it crashed in the jungle. All the persons on board died," said Mallik.

However, he ruled out the possibility of any Maoist attack on the chopper as it was flying at around 3,500 to 4,000 feet above the ground. "The chopper was at such a height that it could not be targeted by Maoists. It must have developed some technical snag and crashed in the jungles," said Mallik adding that the exact reason will become clear only after experts complete their inquiry.
Since the helicopter crashed deep inside the jungle there was no chance of any civilian casualty.

source: TOI