A safety audit of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) has flagged certain design and metallurgy issues in some components as probable reasons for recent accidents of Dhruvs, people aware of developments said.
After May 4, when the last of the recent crash took place in Kishtwar of Jammu and Kashmir, leaving one onboard soldier dead and two others injured, the Army Aviation Corps (AAC) had grounded its entire fleet of ALH MK III Dhruvs for comprehensive checks the second time in two months. After the crash, the pilots informed the ATC about some technical faults.
The Dhruv fleet of AAC were later cleared for operations after a thorough check-up.
It is learnt that leading defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is rectifying flaws to secure ALHs against mishaps.
Since 2005, Dhruv has been involved in twenty accidents, three of which have happened this year alone. The first was on March 8 when a Dhruv MK III of the Navy ditched in a sea in Mumbai, followed by another eighteen days later when again the ALH MK III version (CG-855) of the Coast Guard met with an accident immediately after taking off in Kochi, Kerala.
Eleven of the total ALH accidents were of those operated by the Army Aviation Corps, data revealed. Other than the core issues being addressed, the HAL also believes there was a need for operators -- Indian Air Force, Army, Navy and Coast Guards- to strictly follow prescribed aircraft maintenance manuals for safety requirements, said sources in HAL.
The indigenously designed and developed ALH is a twin-engine, multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5-tonne weight class, as per the HAL. Certification of the utility military variant was completed in 2002 and that of the civil variant in 2004, and the deliveries began from 2001-02 onwards, with the HAL producing 336 Dhruv helicopters by October 2022. Their major variants are: Mk-I conventional cockpit, MK-II & Mk-III glass cockpit, MK-III maritime role and MK-IV armed version.
The HAL is trying to increase the export of ALHs other than to Ecuador and Mauritius, besides meeting the requirements of the Indian armed forces.