Imphal/Kohima, Aug. 18: An army helicopter on a routine training sortie crashed on Japfu hill in Nagaland this morning, killing all three on board, including a colonel.

The Cheetah chopper, carrying Col P.K. Pal, commandant of 7003 Electrical and Mechanical Engineering battalion, pilot Maj. Rakesh Sharma and co-pilot Maj. Nikhil Rana, took off from Rangapahar near Dimapur, the headquarters of 3 Corps, early this morning.

Around 8.30am, it lost contact with the ground, said Col. R.K. Palta, the defence PRO.

Villagers who gathered at the site said they saw the chopper flying very low and suddenly it crashed into the hill, near Viswema, 21km from Kohima.

After an arduous operation, all three bodies were recovered and sent to Naga Hospital in Kohima for post-mortem.

A source at the army headquarters at Leimakhong, on the outskirts of Imphal, first cited “technical snag” as the cause of the accident.

A release issued by Rangapahar (3 Corps) later stated bad weather as the cause of the mishap.

Kohima has been experiencing heavy rain for the past few days. There were no reports of thick fog or poor visibility though.

The reason of Col. Pal’s visit to Imphal, however, remained unexplained.

“We do not have any idea about the purpose of the visit,” a senior officer at Leimakhong said.

A source in the state government said the commandant could have been travelling by chopper because a heavy landslide had blocked the Imphal-Dimapur highway.

The GOC, 3 Corps, Lt. Gen. N.K. Singh, expressed grief and termed the incident as unfortunate. An army court of inquiry was ordered to find out the cause of the crash.

Representatives from Naga organisations led by Angami Public Organisation and Angami Youth Organisations also visited the crash site.