Two dead, one missing after coast guard helicopter goes down in Arabian Sea
The Indian Coast Guard recovered the bodies of two of its personnel who went missing after their Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH Mk-III) went down
New Delhi
The Indian Coast Guard on Tuesday recovered the bodies of two of its personnel who went missing after their Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH Mk-III) went down into the Arabian Sea near Porbandar the previous night, officials aware of the matter said on Tuesday. One of the crew on board, a flight diver, was rescued earlier in the day, and the search for the pilot was still on till late evening, the people added.
In light of the incident, the Coast Guard ordered a one-time safety inspection of its ALH fleet with focus on flying controls and transmission system, according to an internal communication seen by HT. The fleet has been temporarily grounded. The Coast Guard operates 16 ALHs, designed and developed by Bengaluru-based aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The doomed helicopter was launched for a medical evacuation mission on Monday night following an emergency on board a tanker and ditched into the sea 15 minutes later at about 11.15pm. Ditching refers to an aircraft making an emergency landing in water.
The same helicopter was recently at the centre of the rescue and relief work in flood-ravaged Gujarat. “The Indian Coast Guard ALH, which saved 67 lives during the recent cyclonic weather in Gujarat, was launched around 2300 hrs on 02 Sep 24 for medical evacuation of a seriously injured crew on board Indian flagged motor tanker Hari Leela, about 45 km from Porbandar, in response to a request received from the master of the vessel,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
At the time of filing of this report, at least five Coast Guard vessels and a few helicopters were deployed in the area to locate the missing Commandant Rakesh Rana, said one of the officials cited above, asking not to be named.
The flight diver was recovered safely on Tuesday morning after the ALH’s wreckage was found.
The two bodies found by the search and rescue squads were of the helicopter’s co-pilot, Deputy Commandant Vipin Babu, and another flight diver, said a second official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Preliminary information revealed that the helicopter (Tail Number CG 863) went into the sea nose down, the officials said. The helicopter belonged to the Coast Guard’s Porbandar-based 835 Squadron.
“Request call for One Time Check (OTC) on ICG Dhruv fleet prior next flight and forward aircraft wise outcome to the Coast Guard Headquarters,” said a September 3 letter addressed to all coast guard units and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). “Prior next flight” here means that the safety inspection must be carried out before further ALH operations.
The scope of the inspection is extensive and covers several crucial safety aspects.
“(A) Safety, security, integrity and crack detection checks of following: (i) Main drive flexible shaft and its attachments, (ii) Main and tail rotor assemblies, (iii) Upper and lower control systems including freedom of movement with hydraulic trolley, (iv) Roll, pitch, collective and tail rotor actuators including leakages. (B): Tail rotor blades 20-point check,” the letter said.
The incident took place when the helicopter was approaching the vessel for the evacuation. The flight diver recovered safely was knocked off the helicopter before it ditched into the sea.
The incident comes at a time when a critical safety upgrade on the military’s ALH fleet, initiated by HAL after a string of accidents last year, has been completed and the upgraded control system installed on the locally made choppers is expected to improve their airworthiness.
The Dhruv fleet, plagued by a nagging design issue, was grounded several times last year after the accidents called into question its flight safety record.
This led to a comprehensive design review, first reported by HT, of the helicopter’s booster control rods followed by a drive to replace the flaw-ridden existing ones with new rods in each ALH. The armed forces operate around 330 twin-engine ALHs.
These rods allow pilots to control the helicopter’s motion, and any failure can severely affect power input to the rotor blades and cause accidents.
Replacement of the collective control rod and the other two rods (lateral and longitudinal) has been completed on all military ALHs. The new rods are made of steel instead of aluminium.
The multi-mission helicopter has been involved in at least 13 accidents during the last five years. HT highlighted the design issue and steps taken to fix it in a series of stories last year.
A top government regulatory body responsible for the certification of the airworthiness of military aircraft ordered the design review in April 2023. The Bengaluru-based Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) ordered the design review of the booster control rods to improve the ALH’s airworthiness.