Uttarakhand: IAF MI-17 chopper crashes shortly after take-off in Badrinath

An Indian Air Force (IAF) MI-17 V5 helicopter crashed at a helipad near Mana Pass shortly after taking off from Badrinath in Uttarakhand on Wednesday morning.

The chopper, that was part of a drill with the Kumaon Regiment, caught fire after take off. There were reportedly 12 Grenadiers practising inter-valley movement at Ghastoli helipad located between Badrinath and Mana Pass.

No injuries or casualties have been reported. The crew is safe and there has been no damage to property.

A Court of Inquiry has been ordered, according to local media reports.

Here is a timeline of previous crashes of the IAF jets and choppers:

September 13, 2016: An IAF Jaguar Aircraft caught fire while taking off in Ambala in Haryana. A Court of Inquiry into the incident was ordered even as the cause of fire was not known. The pilot was able to eject safely out of the aircraft that was supposed to participate in a routine night flying mission.

August 4, 2016: An IAF jet had crashed due to a technical snag during take-off at the Kalaikunda Air Force Station located in West Bengal's Kharagpur district. The pilots safely ejected from the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (Hawk AJT). A court of inquiry was ordered into this incident as well.

July 22, 2016: An Indian Air Force AN-32 aircraft travelling to Port Blair from Chennai with 29 people on board, including eight civilians and six crew members, went missing. Massive search operations have been underway for almost three months with 17 ships, a submarine and 23 aircraft deployed in the mission.

However, the families of those on board the Indian Air Force's AN-32 aircraft were told that their relatives have been "presumed dead." 

June 3, 2015: An Indian Air Force HAWK AJT aircraft crashed near a police station in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district 35 minutes after taking off from Kalaikunda air base in West Bengal along with two other aircrafts on a training sortie. The pilots had ejected safely minutes before the plane crashed. There were no reports of loss of live or property. Media reports said that the crash was caused by a "mechanical failure."

August 24, 2015: A MiG-21 Bison aircraft crashed near a village in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district. The pilot safely ejected out of the aircraft. No injuries were reported.

May 8, 2015: A MiG-27 aircraft crashed in West Bengal's Tantipara area within 10 minutes of taking off killing two civilians on the ground. However, the pilot ejected out of the plane safely.

March 5, 2015: A Jaguar crashed nto an uninhabited field close to a Food Corporation of India warehouse during a training sortie in Allahabad district's Chaka area. 

January 31, 2015: An MiG-21 jet crashed into a mangrove forest located west of Jamnagar city.