Transmission snag led to ALH crash: HAL chief
HAL chief DK Sunil on Tuesday said that a “swashplate fracture” caused the crash of a coast guard Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH) on January 5
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) chief DK Sunil on Tuesday said that a “swashplate fracture” caused the crash of a coast guard Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH) at Porbandar in Gujarat on January 5, and a high-powered panel examining the reason for the breakdown of the critical component will submit its report in three weeks.
“A swashplate fracture was the root cause of the accident. The defect investigation committee (DIC) is looking at what caused the material failure and is expected to submit its report in three weeks. Depending on the finding of the panel, we will give clearance to the military’s ALH fleet for flying again,” Sunil said during a media briefing at Aero India 2025 being held at the Yelahanka airbase.
Steps will then be taken to fix the problem before the military’s ALH fleet of 330 helicopters is declared airworthy again. It was grounded after the January 5 crash.
HT was the first to report on February 4 that investigators found that a rare failure of a critical part in the transmission system --- the swashplate assembly --- caused the coast guard crash. The multi-mission helicopter has been designed and developed by HAL.
A detailed analysis by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bengaluru, found that the swashplate assembly that crashed compromised the ability of the pilots to control the helicopter’s motion. Z
Two pilots and an aircrew diver were killed in the coast guard crash.
The DIC consists of officials from the Bengaluru-based Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), the Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance and HAL. It will determine whether the issue is related to quality, inspection or maintenance.
The ALH underwent a design review followed by a replacement of a defective control system only in 2023-24.
The ALH’s armed version Rudra was also grounded after the January 5 crash. The army and the Indian Air Force account for more than 90 Rudra helicopters. The ALH has been involved in around 15 accidents during the last five years, putting the spotlight on its troubling safety record.
The coast guard suspended ALH operations following an accident last September when a helicopter crashed into the Arabian Sea near Porbandar. Then too, two pilots and an aircrew diver were killed. The grounding was for a one-time check. The three services did not ground their fleets then.
The coast guard cleared the helicopters for flying a few weeks later, after a safety inspection involving HAL, CEMILAC and all coast guard units.
Last September’s accident, too, came after the design review that culminated in a critical safety upgrade on the military’s ALH fleet, initiated by HAL. The upgrade involved installing upgraded control systems on the helicopters to improve their airworthiness.
The comprehensive design review came after the ALH fleet was grounded several times in 2023 too after a raft of accidents called into question its flight safety record.