Senior Coast Guard Official Urges Design Re-evaluation of Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) After Recent Fatal Incident

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.

 

[AJS]

Recent press articles state that as of January 2025, 23 ALHs were lost in 23 years of service out of a total of 410 units that have been produced so far. I don’t know if this accident rate is worse than the global average for this class of helicopter: but for what it’s worth, a quick check on the internet revealed that comparable helicopters have had similar crash rates, around 5-6% of units built (EC 145, 67 crashes / over 1300 built; Bell 412, 76 crashes / over 1300 built) from all causes including design / manufacturing defects.

It does strike me as an overall positive picture that the Indian military has been operating this machine for over 2 decades, over 400 have been built, and multiple variants developed over this time.

The recent accidents have been serious and are a cause for great concern, so it’s right that the entire fleet has been grounded while the accidents are investigated. As the Indian Coast Guard IG has said, there must be a thorough review and necessary changes made quickly. Problems should not be overlooked and there should be no defensiveness on part of HAL.

Accidents do happen over the life of aircraft and fixes are made, this is normal in the aviation industry. So let us also hope that there will be no blanket criticism of HAL and that their fantastic achievement to develop, build and sustain the Dhruv / Rudra fleet can be built upon to deliver further programs like the LCH, LUH and IMRH.