Pakistan was in mourning on May 9, 2015, for Leif Larsen of Norway, Domingo Lucenario of the Philippines, the spouses of the High Commissioner of Malaysia and Indonesian Ambassador to Pakistan, Habibah Mahmud, and Heri Listyawati Burhan Muhammad, two aviation officers of Pakistan Army (Major Altamash and Major Faisal) and a crew member, Naib Subedar Zakir, a day after MI-17 helicopter of Pakistan Army crashed in an empty school in the Northern Gilgit-Baltistan region on May 8. This big tragedy was the result of a mechanical fault in one of the three MI-17 helicopters flying towards Naltar, located about 43 kilometers North of Gilgit, carrying foreign diplomats. Pakistan Air Force C-130 aircraft carried the 57-member delegation to Gilgit and helicopters were provided by Pakistan Army to carry them ahead to Naltar.

The guests were visiting Naltar to attend the inauguration ceremony of a ski-resort followed by a meeting with Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister. This MI-17 carried 19 people which included 12 foreigners, two military officers and five members of the crew. The envoys of Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Philippines, and Poland were flying on this ill-fated helicopter. It was an excursion trip arranged by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the consultation of Diplomatic Corps.

Havildar Aurangzeb was a member of this crew of the unfortunate helicopter. Lying on a bed in CMH, Gilgit, he recalled how the helicopter was flying in the right parameters until it started spinning and rotating in circles. He held the handle for support yet it dwindled and he fractured his right hand. “As the helicopter crashed, I fell down. I regained my senses immediately and could find my one arm 'hanging'. But I could sense the danger coming so I shouted at people to leave the helicopter before it caught fire. Despite being injured, I assisted many passengers to open their belts and helped them move out of the aircraft."

The helicopter crashed onto the roof of an empty school and as it hit the ground, it caught fire. Out of the 17 passengers onboard, 7 people died, and ten men were rescued from the wreckage by brave soldiers and locals present on ground. Indonesia’s Ambassador, Burhan Muhammad, 58, who had suffered 75% burns and was in a critical condition, died 11 days after the crash. He was admitted in Army Burn Centre, Kharian before he was evacuated to a hospital in Singapore for treatment. The Dutch and Polish ambassadors who had suffered neck and head injury, and spinal injury respectively were admitted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Rawalpindi and were soon declared out of danger. All 10 survivors had varying degrees of injuries.

The Dutch Ambassador who had sustained burns on the legs and face feels extremely lucky to be alive because, according to him, it was happening a little too quick. All he knew was that the plane was shaking, shuddering, vibrating, and wrenching so violently. “I remember the helicopter got into a spin so I braced myself for impact. When I opened my eyes later to the sound of explosions, there was smoke everywhere.” An eyewitness [Ahmed] on the ground observed that the helicopter came very close to the helipad, perhaps it was few hundred feet in the air, right above the school, when it started to spin and ultimately crashed. The fire it caught couldn’t be extinguished for an hour or so. “What we could say immediately, before the investigation report is out, is that the helicopter was behaving normally on a predictable pattern moments before landing when it spiraled out of control. It was a routine flight and the pilots had excellent professional skills. Our Base Commander was himself observing the landing of the helicopter. Details would be made known to the public after we examine the components of the aircraft,” said Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman as he appeared on the TV, lauding the behaviour of foreign community as exemplary. He also appreciated the heroic and selfless actions of the pilots and the quick life saving actions by the soldiers and locals. According to a local channel report, the jawans of Pak Army and PAF went through flames and smoke to evacuate the dead and survivors before the fire reached fuel tank.

Havildar Aurangzeb was a member of the crew of this unfortunate helicopter. Lying on a bed in CMH, Gilgit, he recalled how the helicopter was flying in the right parameters until it started spinning and rotating in circles. He held the handle for support yet it dwindled and he fractured his right hand. " As the helicopter crashed, I fell down. I regained my senses immediately and could find my one arm 'hanging'. But I could sense the danger coming so I shouted at people to leave the helicopter before it caught fire. Despite being injured, I assisted many passengers to open their belts and helped them move out of the aircraft."

The two pilots of Pakistan Army made an effort to land safely but the malfunctioning aircraft invalidated a safe landing approach. Even then they succeeded in preventing the helicopter from free falling to the ground, the sole reason why many passengers are still alive.

A wave of sadness engulfed the nation following this traumatic incident. Almost one-sixth of the world’s nations had their representatives on this trip that ended in death and grief. Malaysia’s envoy, Hasrul Sani Mujtabar, one of the passengers of Naltar convoy evokes the terrifying moments as the helicopter went around in circles and violently hit the ground. "After arriving at Gilgit airport everything went well except for the last few minutes, when the helicopter went into a spiral, round and round and round, and there it hit the ground. I saw the pilot was killed, some others died instantly and I was in middle. Then a few managed to escape but the fire was very strong with smoke quickly filling the helicopter”, he said.

South Africa’s High Commissioner Mpendulo Jele who was on the same helicopter flight recounted what he saw that day. Following a major vibration in the air, the helicopter took a vicious circle; it spiraled up, then downward and crashed into the school building. He says it’s a miracle that he still walked out unscathed. “It’s an accident that can happen anywhere in the world. Unfortunately we lost some of our colleagues, but Pakistan military saved many lives,” he told a news channel.

Because no explosion was seen while the aircraft was still airborne, all claims by the Taliban were dismissed as negative as the opportunist terrorist groups are most likely to own such heinous incidents as an achievement. The eyewitness accounts as well as testimonies of the diplomats on board from Malaysia, Argentina and Netherlands released by PAF further supported the claim that the incident was a result of mechanical failure. The troops of Pakistan Army were already deployed in the surrounding valleys and mountain tops for security purposes to cover the inaugural event so chances of any terrorist activities in such a high profile event are almost zero. Standard protocols and security procedures are ensured for such trips by Pakistan Army and the security agencies.

General Raheel Sharif, COAS also expressed his deepest grief over tragic loss of precious lives of the accident. Expressing his feelings about the incident, he said, "It is sad day for all of us and our heart goes out to the bereaved families at this sad moment of their life." The two pilots of Pakistan Army made an effort to land safely but the malfunctioning aircraft invalidated a safe landing approach. Even then they succeeded in preventing the helicopter from free falling to the ground, the sole reason why many passengers are still alive. “The crew of the helicopter saved precious lives after the crash at the risk of their own lives and one crew member (Army Subedar) was killed during the rescue operation”, said our Foreign Secretary, Aizaz Ahmad.

Flag-covered coffins bedecked with wreaths of those killed in the crash were brought to Rawalpindi’s Nur Khan Airbase on May 9, 2015. They were received with full military honour by the diplomats and military’s top brass including the Army Chief General Raheel Sharif. The people injured in the crash also arrived at the military base in a C-130 plane. The Pakistani servicemen saluted as the coffins were carried by. The funeral prayers for Major Faisal, Major Altamash and Subedar Zakir were offered in Rawalpindi which were attended by a large number of people including Services Chiefs.