A tragic helicopter crash in northern Pakistan on Monday has claimed the lives of five military personnel, according to an official statement from the country’s armed forces.
The MI-17 helicopter, which was on a routine training flight, reportedly suffered a technical fault and crashed in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, a mountainous region popular with tourists.
“All five onboard, including two pilots, two crew members, and a flight engineer, lost their lives,” the military confirmed.
Local police sources earlier indicated that the chopper was attempting a test landing on a proposed helipad when the incident occurred. The crash happened around 10:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT).
This is the second MI-17 crash in recent weeks. In August, another government helicopter went down in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during flood relief operations, also resulting in the deaths of all five onboard.
Pakistan has witnessed a series of fatal military helicopter accidents in recent years.
In 2022, a similar crash in Balochistan during flood missions killed six personnel, including one of the army’s senior commanders.
