All the nine air force personnel, including five officers, on board two MI-17 helicopters were today killed when the choppers collided mid- air shortly after take off from an air base here.

Dramatic footage on television showed the helicopters flying almost parallel to each other and then their upper rotors colliding. While one of them went down, the tail portion of the other broke sending it into a spin before crashing. Both of them caught fire in the impact.

"Nine IAF personnel--five officers and four other ranks-- have been killed in the crash near Sarmat firing range, 15 kms from Jamnagar city," an IAF spokesperson said in New Delhi.

The dead included three Wing Commanders, a Squadron Leader and a Flight Lieutenant, he said.

This is the fourth crash involving air force aircraft this year but this is the first time two of its helicopters have collided mid-air. 16 years ago, two passenger planes had collided mid-air killing over 300 people over Charkhi Dadri in Haryana.

The Russian-made choppers were on a training sortie and the crash occurred about five minutes after they took off at 12 noon from air base here.

Asked why were the choppers flying so close to each other, the spokesperson said that the training mission involved such flying.

Indian Air Force officers, police officials and Jamnagar municipal corporation fire brigade reached the spot shortly after the crash. Fire brigade personnel doused the burning wreckage.

The spokesperson said that a court of inquiry has been ordered to determine the reasons behind the crash.

Defence Minister A K Antony expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident and conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.

In the last three years, the Indian Air Force has lost 33 fighter aircraft which include one Jaguar, two Mirage-2000, three Sukhoi-30 and 27 MiG-series aircraft including 16 M1G-21 and 10 helicopters.

26 defence personnel, including 13 pilots, have lost their lives in these accidents. In addition to the IAF personnel, six civilians have also lost their lives in these mishaps. IAF had grounded Mig-27 and Mirage-2000 fleet following crashes involving the aircraft type.

Frontline Su-30MKI planes were also grounded after the crash of an aircraft due to problems in the fly-by-wire system.