By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan Army Mi-17 helicopter crashed near Muzaffarabad on Wednesday, killing all personnel on board when the aircraft went down during takeoff due to what military officials described as a technical fault, marking the third deadly helicopter accident involving security or government in less than one year.
The Inter-Services Public Relations, the military’s media affairs wing, confirmed the crash in a brief statement and said rescue and recovery teams reached the site immediately. It did not disclose the number of troops who perished or their identities, a common practice in the immediate aftermath of military aviation accidents in Pakistan.
“All personnel on board embraced martyrdom,” the ISPR said. “There were no survivors.”
A board of inquiry has been ordered to determine the precise technical cause of the crash, the military said. It offered no further details about the aircraft’s mission, how many soldiers were aboard, or the exact circumstances of the failure during takeoff.
Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, who holds the dual positions of Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces, along with all ranks of the Pakistan Army, expressed grief over the losses and extended condolences to the families of the dead, according to the ISPR statement.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also issued a statement, saying the entire nation salutes the sacrifices of its soldiers. He offered prayers for the elevation of the martyrs’ ranks and called for patience and strength for their bereaved families.
The Mi-17 is a Soviet-designed twin-turbine military transport helicopter widely operated by the Pakistan Army. It has been involved in a number of fatal accidents in the country’s mountainous and operationally demanding terrain over the years.
Wednesday’s crash is the latest in a string of aviation tragedies that have struck Pakistani forces and government agencies in rapid succession. In September 2025, five soldiers were killed when an army helicopter went down in Diamer district in Gilgit-Baltistan, also attributed to a technical fault. Months earlier, in August 2025, a helicopter operated by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government crashed in Mohmand district during bad weather, claiming the lives of two pilots and three crew members.
The recurrence of fatal crashes — three within a span of roughly nine months, all in the country’s rugged northern and northwestern regions — is likely to intensify scrutiny of aviation maintenance standards and operational safety protocols within the Pakistani military and provincial government fleets. Azad Kashmir, where Wednesday’s crash occurred, presents some of the most challenging flying conditions in the region, with narrow valleys, unpredictable weather and high-altitude terrain that can amplify the consequences of any mechanical failure.
Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir, sits at the confluence of the Neelum and Jhelum rivers and is surrounded by steep mountain ranges, conditions that demand precision flying even under normal operational circumstances.
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