The DGCA has ordered an inquiry into the crash of a Pawan Hans helicopter in Arunachal Pradesh even as initial reports suggested that “wind shear and down draft” led to the accident which claimed atleast 17 lives.

Officials here said a committee would be set up to investigate the accident and a high-level team of DGCA officers, led by Director General E K Bharat Bhushan, will visit the accident site tomorrow.

The MI-172 chopper crash-landed “due to likely wind shear and down draft while landing and caught fire on impact to the ground”, the officials said quoting preliminary reports.

Later, official statement said that the MI-172 helicopter (VT-PHF) of Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd was carrying 18 passengers, including two minors, and five crew members from Guwahati to Tawang.

The actual number of fatalities and injured were being ascertained. Search and rescue measures were in progress, the statement said.

Officials from the civil aviation regulatory body -Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have rushed to the accident site.

The helicopter was manufactured in 1996 and had a valid certificate of airworthiness till August 28 this year.