Chopper flying Northern Army Commander makes emergency landing in Poonch for technical reasons

Poonch: An Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) of the Indian Army with Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh on-board made an emergency landing in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday. “A helicopter with Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh on-board has executed a forced landing on account of technical snag in general area of Poonch. All crew and passengers are safe,” the Army’s Northern Command said in a statement.

Sources: One Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) force-landed due to technical reasons, in the general area of Poonch today. It was not a crash. All seven passengers, travelling in the helicopter, are safe. #JammuAndKashmir https://t.co/T3dtmg01ln

— ANI (@ANI) October 24, 2019

The Northern Army Commander was returning from a forward location in the 16 Corps area of operations near the Line of Control (LoC) when the incident took place. Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, who was the face of 2016 surgical strikes, had earlier also been involved in a chopper-related incident a few years ago, Army sources said. Sources in the Army said one Lt Col Nambiar with his co-pilot, a naval officer on deputation to the Army, was flying the ALH Dhruv. Further details are awaited