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NEW DELHI/JAMMU: In yet another crash of the indigenous Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH), a soldier was killed and two Army pilots injured after their chopper made a hard landing in a forested area in the upper reaches of Kishtwar district of J&K on Thursday morning.
This is the fourth accident of the 5.5-tonne ALH in just over six months, which has led to the entire fleet of the over 300 such two-engine choppers in the armed forces being grounded at least twice for technical checks by manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL)
On Thursday, all three on board the ill-fated ALH Mark-3 were evacuated to the Command Hospital at Udhampur but the chopper technician, Pabballa Anil (30), succumbed to his injuries. One of the two pilots is also seriously injured.
“The pilots had reported a technical fault in the ALH, which was on an operational mission, to the air traffic controller. They then tried for a precautionary landing on the banks of the Marua river at 11.15 am. But due to the undulating ground, undergrowth and unprepared landing area, the helicopter apparently made a hard landing,” an officer said.
A naval chopper had to carry out a “controlled ditching in the water” off Mumbai on March 8. The pilots had then reported “a sudden loss of power and rapid loss of height”. Then, an ALH of the Coast Guard also had to make a “forced landing” soon after taking off from Kochi on March 26.
This is the fourth accident of the 5.5-tonne ALH in just over six months, which has led to the entire fleet of the over 300 such two-engine choppers in the armed forces being grounded at least twice for technical checks by manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL)
On Thursday, all three on board the ill-fated ALH Mark-3 were evacuated to the Command Hospital at Udhampur but the chopper technician, Pabballa Anil (30), succumbed to his injuries. One of the two pilots is also seriously injured.
“The pilots had reported a technical fault in the ALH, which was on an operational mission, to the air traffic controller. They then tried for a precautionary landing on the banks of the Marua river at 11.15 am. But due to the undulating ground, undergrowth and unprepared landing area, the helicopter apparently made a hard landing,” an officer said.
A naval chopper had to carry out a “controlled ditching in the water” off Mumbai on March 8. The pilots had then reported “a sudden loss of power and rapid loss of height”. Then, an ALH of the Coast Guard also had to make a “forced landing” soon after taking off from Kochi on March 26.
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