ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Wednesday that its Mi-17 helicopter crashed in the northern city of Muzaffarabad, killing all personnel on board.
As per a statement from the army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the helicopter crashed during take-off due to a technical fault.
It said rescue and recovery teams immediately reached the crash site. A board of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the exact technical cause of the accident, the army said.
“All personnel on board embraced shahadat [martyrdom],” the ISPR said without clarifying how many people lost their lives in the crash. “There were no survivors.”
In September last year, an army aviation helicopter crashed in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, killing all five people on board.
In August 2025, a government helicopter carrying relief supplies to the flood-hit northwestern Bajaur region crashed due to bad weather, killing all five on it.
The army said Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir expressed “deep grief” over the loss of lives and extended condolences to the bereaved families.
In September 2024, six people were killed when another helicopter crashed due to engine failure in northwestern Pakistan.
