Navy helicopter makes emergency landing off Mumbai coast; crew rescued
A naval officer said they can see the aircraft floating in water and a salvage team is on the site to recover it
An Advanced Light Helicopter belonging to the Indian Navy which was on a routine sortie made an emergency landing off the Mumbai coast on Wednesday morning, people familiar with the matter said adding that the crew was rescued safely.
The people said that the incident happened near Prongs Light House off Colaba on the southernmost tip of Mumbai. There were two ALHs flying in the area of which one ditched and the second one rescued others. A naval press note said that immediate search and rescue ensured recovery of crew of three by navy patrol craft. An inquiry to investigate the incident has been ordered.
The aircraft had taken off from INS Shikra, the helibase at Colaba. “We can see the aircraft floating in water and salvage team is on site to recover it,’’ said a naval officer.
The ALH is a utility helicopter designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in November 1984. The helicopter first flew in 1992; however, its development was prolonged due to multiple factors including the Indian Army’s requirement for design changes, budget restrictions, and sanctions placed on India following the 1998 Pokhran II nuclear tests.
The ALH entered service in 2002. It is designed to meet the requirement of both military and civil operators, with military variants of the helicopter being developed for the three wings of armed forces while a variant for civilian/commercial use has also been developed.
As of January 2022, 335 ALH have been produced for domestic and export markets logging more than 340,000 flying hours.