India’s air force says it shot down its own helicopter

The new chief of India’s air force says it accidently shot down its own helicopter as it engaged Pakistani fighter planes in an aerial confrontation in Indian-controlled Kashmir in February.

Air Chief Rakesh Singh Bhaduria says the air force is taking punitive action against two officers.

Bhaduria told reporters on Friday that the air force has completed its investigation of the incident.

The Press Trust of India news agency said a surface-to-air missile shot down the Mi-17 aircraft in Kashmir on Feb. 27.

India said its fighter planes hit a militant camp on a heavily forested hilltop in Balakot inside Pakistan. Pakistan said its air force shot down an Indian fighter jet and took an Indian pilot prisoner. He was later released.