Two major-rank pilots were killed after an army helicopter crash-landed in a dense forest at the Patnitop area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district on Tuesday.

“During an operational area clearance sortie at Patnitop, Major Rohit Kumar and Major Anuj Rajput met with an accident while manoeuvring the helicopter they were flying. During the crash-landing of the helicopter, both pilots suffered grave injuries,” defence spokesman Lt Colonel Devinder Anand said.

“They were immediately evacuated to Command Hospital, Udhampur. However, the officers succumbed to their injuries,” he added.

Major Kumar was 35 and Major Rajput 28.

Bad weather is believed to have contributed to the crash. Officials said the Cheetah helicopter belonged to the Army Aviation Corps.

On August 3, the army’s advanced light helicopter Dhruv had crashed into the Ranjit Sagar dam lake in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, leaving the two pilots missing for days.

The body of Lt Colonel A.S. Batth was recovered on August 15 evening but Captain Jayant Joshi remains untraced.