17 kiiled in helicopter crash

ITANAGAR: 17 persons including three crew members were killed and six others injured when a helicopter caught fire and plunged into a gorge in Tawang district of the South Eastern Indian state Arunachalpradesh on Tuesday. 
The Pawan Hans Mi17 chopper was flying to Tawang from the Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati and had taken off at 1245 hours, agency sources said. 
Pilots Captain Varun Gupta and Captain A K Tiwari were scheduled to land at the Tawang civil helipad at 1320 hours. 
It caught fire, broke into pieces and crashed into a gorge close to the helipad at around 1357 hours, the sources said. 
While 17 persons on board were killed, two crew members and four passengers survived with grievous injuries, Tawang Deputy Commissioner Gamlin Padu said. 
The injured were rushed to the civil hospital at Tawang and would be air-lifted to Guwahati on Wednesday, the DC said. 
This is the second helicopter crash in the district bordering China. Earlier on November 19 last year an Indian Air Force MI 17 chopper crashed minutes after takeoff killing all 12 on board.