Porbandar helicopter crash probe report likely by Jan 10; plans afoot to collect annual feedback from end users

New Delhi: With nearly 330 Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) being grounded, investigators probing last week’s fatal helicopter crash at Porbandar are likely to submit their initial report by Friday, government sources said, underlining the need to review the flight training protocols for Advanced Light Helicopters too.

Among other things, grounding of the fleet has hampered the rehearsals for the Republic Day flypast.

While the probe will determine if the home-grown aircraft needs technological fix, sources told DH that annual interaction sessions are being planned between the chopper’s manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, and its end users from the Army, Air Force, Navy and the Coast Guard, to get regular feedback.

The January 5 crash that killed three Indian Coast Guard officials was the second such mishap within four months.

On Sept 2, another coast guard ALH crashed killing three on-board, while carrying out a medical evacuation mission in pitch dark conditions at night. Both accidents happened at Porbandar.

The mishaps occur at a time when the Bengaluru-based aviation major hopes to get a civil certificate for ALH from the regulator by 2026, paving the way for the indigenous helicopter’s introduction to the civilian market.

While the on-site probe of the wreckage may be conducted over this week, detailed examination of the gear box, the transmission system and the flight data recorder will take time.

After the September crash, an independent expert panel under the chairmanship of Air Marshal Vibhas Pande (rtd), former Commanding in Chief of the Maintenance Command, looked into the issues related to ALH accidents.

“The panel submitted its recommendations that are now being implemented,” sources said here on Thursday.

The officials said ALH flew for more than 4.5 lakh hours so far and its safety record of having 6.5 incidents per lakh hours of flying is better than the global standard of 7.5 incidents per lakh hours of flying.

Since 2000, there have been nine major ALH accidents in which either lives or the aircraft were lost. Of the nine, three were due to human errors, sources said, adding that some of the training protocols should be re-examined.

The helicopters’ past complications related to control rods have been resolved as these rods were replaced by steel control rods as a matter of abundant precaution. Also, there were some design tweaks to improve safety.

Officials said in nine helicopters, there were issues with the turbine blades, because of which the entire batch had been taken out of circulation. A team of scientists and engineers has been sent to France to resolve the issue partnering with the manufacturer (Safran).