Army helicopter sent distress call to ATC before crash in Arunachal: Report

Before it went down in the mountainous region of Migging in Arunachal Pradesh, the Army’s Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) sent a distress call to the air traffic control suggesting a technical failure, military sources said on Saturday.

Mortal remains of four personnel out of five on board the Weapon System Integrated (WSI) version of the indigenously-built helicopter were retrieved by rescue teams on Friday evening, hours after the aircraft crashed.

“Prior to the crash, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) received a May Day call suggesting a technical or mechanical failure,” said a source.

‘May Day’ call refers to distress signal conveyed to an aircraft crew to the ATC or ground staff.