By Atoyebi Nike
A Pakistani military helicopter crashed in Gilgit Baltistan on Monday, killing all five people on board, officials confirmed.
The army said the MI-17 aircraft was on a routine training mission when it developed a technical fault and went down around 10:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) in the mountainous Diamer district, a popular tourist area. Those killed included two pilots, two crew members, and a flight engineer.
Local police reported that the aircraft had been attempting a test landing on a newly proposed helipad when the crash occurred.
The accident comes only weeks after another army MI-17 helicopter crashed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during flood relief operations, killing five service members. Pakistan has experienced several fatal helicopter crashes in recent years. In 2022, a senior army commander was among six personnel who died when their helicopter went down in Balochistan while delivering flood aid.
