The Mi-17V5 helicopter that crashed on December 8 carrying 13 people, had flown for more than 26 hours without a snag after it was serviced, as per the sources.
There was no system malfunction or technical failure in the last 2-3 sorties of this particular helicopter and the history was clear. In fact, it is considered to be one of the safest and most modern military transport helicopters, a retired IAF officer said.
The Mi-17 V5 is very sturdy and robust. “The most likely reason for the crash could be foggy weather which reduced visibility. Looking at the disintegration pattern, it appears, the chopper probably hit a tree trunk or its rotor got entangled in overhead cables,” a source said.
The crash on Wednesday was the fifth of this variant in last nine years.
