The Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter is a workhorse for the Indian Armed Forces. (representative)
New Delhi:
Nearly a month after the army grounded its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) fleet ‘Dhruv’ following a helicopter crash in Jammu and Kashmir, the indigenous helicopters have been allowed to fly. However, the clearance is conditional and the helicopters are only allowed to operate in “limited and emergency operations,” sources said.
According to sources, only helicopters that have been thoroughly checked and are fit to fly are allowed to fly. At present, the Army has about 145 Dhruv helicopters, the Air Force 70, the Navy 18 and the Coast Guard 20.
Permission to resume operations of the helicopter should be given by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the helicopter’s manufacturer, sources said earlier.
On May 4, a technician was killed and two pilots injured after an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv with three people on board crashed after a “hard landing” in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. Following the accident, the army grounded the entire fleet in accordance with procedure.
The Navy and Coast Guard had previously partially grounded the helicopters for more than a month after two mishaps in March, when an Indian Navy Dhruv crash-landed in the Arabian Sea, while a Coast Guard Dhruv crash-landed soon after. made. take off from Kochi.
The Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter is a workhorse for the Indian Armed Forces. In military service, it flies to extremely high altitudes to serve soldiers in the Siachen Glacier and in Ladakh. In recent times, there have been concerns about mechanical failures and reliability of the armed forces.
