From 2015 to 2026: Pakistan’s Helicopter Crash Timeline

Shazia Mehboob

Muzaffarabad: An Mi-17 helicopter of the Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Muzaffarabad on Wednesday during take-off due to a reported technical fault, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). 

All personnel on board were martyred in the incident. 

Rescue and recovery teams reached the site immediately, while a board of inquiry has been ordered to determine the exact cause of the accident.

Senior military and civilian leadership, including the Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, expressed deep grief over the loss of lives. 

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also extended condolences, paying tribute to the personnel who “embraced martyrdom” in the line of duty and praying for strength for the bereaved families.

The latest helicopter crash near Muzaffarabad adds to a series of military and government aviation accidents reported in Pakistan over recent years, raising renewed concerns over operational safety and technical reliability.

In September 2025, five personnel were killed when a military helicopter crashed in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district due to a reported technical fault. Earlier the same year in August, a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government rescue helicopter went down in Mohmand district amid bad weather, killing two pilots and three crew members.

The second half of 2022 saw two major crashes. On August 2, a Pakistan Army helicopter went missing in Balochistan’s Lasbela district before its wreckage was later recovered the following day.

All six personnel on board, including Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali, were killed in the incident. The following month, another army helicopter crashed during a flying mission near Harnai, resulting in the martyrdom of six personnel, including two majors.

In December 2021, two pilots lost their lives when a military helicopter crashed in Siachen’s Ghanche district in Gilgit-Baltistan. In 2020, four personnel were martyred in a casualty evacuation helicopter crash in Astore district, also attributed to technical reasons.

One of the deadliest incidents in recent history occurred in 2015, when a military helicopter crashed near Mansehra in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing all twelve people on board.

With the latest Muzaffarabad crash, authorities have once again launched investigations, as concerns grow over a recurring pattern of aviation accidents involving both military and rescue helicopter operations across the country.