IAF Chopper Ferrying Kerosene Bursts at 17,000 Feet in Tawang, 7 Killed

Agencies

October 6, 2017

New Delhi, Oct 6: Five Air Force personnel and two Armymen were killed on Friday when an IAF helicopter ferrying kerosene cans burst into flames in Tawang area of Arunachal Pradesh.

The mishap happened at an altitude of 17,000 feet when the Mi-17 V5 chopper crew were getting ready to drop kerosene supply at a forward location.

While jerry cans of kerosene were being offloaded, the net holding the cans got entangled in the aircraft’s rear rotor, sources said. The chopper caught fire and crashed to the ground, killing all onboard.

When the chopper caught fire, one of the crew members jumped out, but couldn’t survive, sources said.

The chopper crashed at 6am, just 10km from the India-China border.

A Court of Inquiry has been ordered into the crash.

The deceased were identified as Wing Commander Vikram Upadhyay, Squadron Leader S Tiwari, MWO AK Singh, Sergeant Gautam and Sergeant Satish Kumar of the Air Force, and Sepoy E Balaji and Sepoy HN Deka of the Army.

“It’s a sad incident. There can be many reasons that led to the crash. It can be weather or technical issues. It is not right for me to comment before the probe report is out,” said former Army chief and Union minister VK Singh.

The crash comes a day before the IAF celebrates Air Force Day.

"Our losses in the peacetime are a cause of concern. We are making concerted efforts to minimise accidents and preserve our assets," Air Force chief Marshal BS Dhanoa had said on Thursday, referring to a string of crashes of IAF choppers and military jets in recent years.

In July, it was reported that Russia and India are holding negotiations for the supply of 48 Russian Mi-17 military transport helicopters with Moscow hoping to seal the deal by the year end.

According to a news agency report, last year Russia had handed over to India the final batch of three Mi-17 V5 military transport helicopters under a previously signed contract with Rosoboronexport, a company of the Rostec State Corporation, entailing a total of 151 units of the Mi-17 V5 helicopter, produced by the Kazan Helicopter Plant.

Designed to transport cargo inside the cabin and on an external sling, the Mi-17 V5 is considered to be one of the world's most advanced military transport helicopters.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

India’s Modi govt will buy oil from Venezuela, not Iran: Trump’s big claim

News Network

February 1,2026

US President Donald Trump on Saturday claimed that the government of India led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a deal to buy Venezuelan oil, as opposed to purchasing it from Iran.

"We've already made that deal, the concept of the deal," he told reporters on Air Force One.

Trump had imposed 25% tariffs on countries buying Venezuelan oil, including India, in March 2025. He had also hit India with tariffs for buying Russian oil, saying it was "funding" President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine.

Trump has said that the US has taken control of the oil-rich Venezuela after capturing former President Nicolas Maduro in January.

A fleet of 18 ships loaded with crude oil bound for refineries in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi in January, the most since December 2024, according to a report by the news agency Bloomberg.

Combined crude deliveries to the US will reach about 2,75,000 barrels a day, more than doubling volumes seen in December last year. Shipments to China, which averaged 4,00,000 barrels a day last year, fell to zero in January.

PM Modi, Venezuelan President Agree To Expand Ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez spoke on Friday and agreed to take the bilateral relations to "new heights" in the years ahead.

It was the first phone call between the two leaders since the capture of Maduro and his wife by the US on January 3.

"Spoke with Acting President of Venezuela, Ms. Delcy Rodriguez. We agreed to further deepen and expand our bilateral partnership in all areas, with a shared vision of taking India-Venezuela relations to new heights in the years ahead," PM Modi said in a post on X.

A statement from Prime Minister Modi's office said the two leaders agreed to further expand and deepen the India-Venezuela partnership in all areas, including trade and investment, energy, digital technology, health, agriculture, and people-to-people ties.

They exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest and underscored the importance of their close cooperation for the Global South, the statement said.

Rodriguez also said that they discussed partnerships in the fields of agriculture, science and technology, mining, and tourism, as well as the pharmaceutical and automotive industries.

Comments