Braving icy winds and treacherous mountain terrain, soldiers on Friday dug out the bodies of two Indian Air Force pilots who were killed when their Cheetah helicopter crashed at an altitude of 20,000 on the Siachen glacier.

The bodies were dug out from under eight feet of snow two days after the helicopter crashed early on Wednesday morning near a forward post close to a Pakistani position.

The helicopter crashed after it overshot the advance landing facility or helipad at 20,000 feet and was swept away by powerful winds, said Lt Col S K Goutam, the spokesman for the army's Northern Command.

An army team led by Capt Vikalp Sharma undertook the Herculean effort of recovering the bodies of Squadron Leader Shantanu Basu and Flight Lieutenant Amit Sharma in extreme terrain and weather conditions.

"The courage, grit and determination of the soldiers helped bring back the mortal remains of the pilots, which lay buried under seven to eight feet of snow," Goutam said, adding, "The bodies were extricated in the most difficult terrain at an extreme high altitude."

The helicopter was on a routine maintenance sortie when it crashed about 400 meters ahead of the Indian post in an area dotted by several crevasses and a 225-metre ice wall.

The bodies of the pilots were flown back to the IAF base. An enquiry has been ordered into the incident.

Army chief Gen J J Singh and Northern Command chief, Lt Gen H S Panag have expressed appreciation for the efforts made by soldiers to recover the bodies.