New Delhi, May 29: Months after Mi-17 chopper crash in Budgam, Air chief Marshal BS Dhanoa on Wednesday said that lessons should be learnt to ensure mistakes are not repeated to avoid such incidents in future. The Chief of Air Staff told India Today, “We need to learn lessons, what happened, how did it happen and if mistakes were made need to make sure it doesn't happen again. The Court of Inquiry into the incident is still not complete.” Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa ensured that transparency will be maintained and the findings of the report will be shared with the dependents of those who lost their lives in the crash.

Last week, reports surfaced that one senior IAF officer and three others are likely to face strict disciplinary action for lapses that led to the crash of Mi-17 helicopter at Budgam on February 27 because of the “friendly fire”. The accident took place at 10:10 am on the day when Indian and Pakistani fighter jets were engaged in aerial combat after Pakistan violated the Indian airspace.

Meanwhile, the Court of Inquiry (COI) is still in progress. However, according to various reports, On February 27, an Israeli-made SPYDER surface-to-air missile was fired and within 12 seconds of the launch, the Mi-17 chopper crashed. The CoI is examining why the Air Traffic Control (ATC) call the Mi-17 back to the Srinagar base 10 minutes after its take off? and why the helicopter’s IFF (Identity, Friend or Foe) transponder system was switched off which is also a violation of the protocol? The air officer commanding (AOC) of the Srinagar base - an Air Commodore - has already been transferred out.

On February 27, Mi17 V5 chopper was crashed. In the crash, six IAF personnel – Wing Commander Sidharth Sharma, Squadron Leader Ninad Mandavgane, Sergeant Vikrant Sherawat, Corporal Deepak Pandey, Corporal Pankaj Kumar and engineer Vishal Kumar Pandey were killed. A civilian also lost his life in the incident.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 29, 2019 08:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).