Weeks after Coast Guard chopper crash kills 3, top official pitches for re-evaluation of ALH design

Mumbai: A senior Indian Coast Guard official has called for design re-evaluations of the Advanced Light Helicopter after one of the military choppers of the maritime security agency crashed in Gujarat earlier this month, killing three.

ICG Inspector General and Regional Commander (West) Bhisham Sharma said on Thursday that ALH has been in the service for the past 20 years and the Coast Guard has the Mark III version of the indigenous helicopters called Dhruv.

“We have undertaken extensive flying operations. I have myself taken a ferry (helicopter ride) from Agatti to Minicoy and from Minicoy to Kavaratti (in Lakshadweep) again. It is a wonderful machine but few incidents certainly call for some design re-evaluations," he told reporters in Mumbai.

He said Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, the ALH manufacturer, is working on it.

Two pilots and an aircrew diver of an ALH of the Coast Guard were killed when the chopper crashed and caught fire at Gujarat's Porbandar airport on January 5. Following the accident, the armed forces grounded the entire fleet of the twin-engine helicopters.

The indigenously designed and developed ALH was not part of the Republic Day flypast this year as the entire fleet of the military choppers has been grounded following the fatal crash.

The Army, the Indian Air Force, the Navy and the Coast Guard operate around 330 ALHs.

Sharma said the Coast Guard has procured some drones to augment its surveillance efforts around ships. These unmanned aerial vehicles are being utilised by frontline ships of the maritime security agency.

“We have plans to induct some more (drones) in the near future depending on the efficacy,” the senior official added.