ALH fleet to remain grounded three more weeks

The entire fleet of 330 indigenously made Advanced Light Helicopters (ALHs) will remain grounded for a few more weeks. The fleet, used across the armed forces, was grounded for a comprehensive check following a crash on January 5.

A report from the defect investigation team set up by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is expected in three weeks.

Addressing a press conference at Aero India, HAL Chairman and Managing Director DK Sunil said, “The investigation team is scheduled to submit its report in three weeks. We will take a call on the clearance for flying the copters.”

The team is evaluating whether the crash was due to a specific problem in the helicopter or if there are any general defects in the fleet. “Prima facie, the cause of the January 5 crash appears to be a fracture detected in the helicopter’s ‘swash plate’,” the HAL CMD said.

“We are also reviewing the training and maintenance of personnel handling the ALH fleet,” he added.

Referring to the January 5 crash, in which three Coast Guard personnel died at Porbandar, Gujarat, the HAL CMD said, “It was an unfortunate incident. The Dhruv fleet has completed over four lakh hours of flying.”

Over the past 25 years, there have been 28 ALH crashes — 13 due to technical reasons, 13 caused by human error and two for unknown reasons.

The ALH is considered a major success in indigenous military equipment manufacturing. The armed variant, called the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), is built on the same platform and uses the same engines.

Due to the grounding of the fleet, the ALH was not part of the Republic Day flypast or Aero India displays.

The Indian Air Force, Army, Navy and Coast Guard operate various variants of the ALH. Developed by HAL, it is a versatile twin-engine utility helicopter designed for both military and civilian roles. In service since 2002, it is widely used for transport, search and rescue, medical evacuation, reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare.

The ALH has four variants — ALH Mark 1, Mark 2, Mark 3 and ALH-WSI (Weapon Systems Integrated). All are twin-engine helicopters, but two types of engines are used. The Mark III and ALH-WSI variants feature the more powerful Shakti engine, co-developed by HAL and France’s Safran.