Indian Coast Guard helicopter crash: Bodies of 2 jawans found, one remains missing
Indian Coast Guard helicopter crash: The bodies of two Indian Coast Guard (ICG) jawans were recovered from the Arabian Sea late on Tuesday evening. Three personnel went missing after their Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH Mk-III) with four aircrews made an emergency landing in the Arabian Sea near Porbandar on Monday night. One crew member was rescued earlier and one remains missing.
In the wake of the incident, the Coast Guard ordered a one-time safety inspection of its ALH fleet, focussing on the flying controls and transmission system. The fleet has been temporarily grounded. The Coast Guard uses 16 ALHs designed and produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a Bengaluru-based aircraft maker.
The unfortunate helicopter was dispatched for a medical evacuation operation on Monday night after an emergency on board a tanker and ditched into the sea 15 minutes later, around 11.15 p.m. Ditching occurs when an aircraft makes an emergency landing in water.
The same chopper was recently at the forefront of rescue and relief efforts in flood-ravaged Gujarat.
“The Indian Coast Guard ALH, which saved 67 lives during the recent cyclonic weather in Gujarat, was launched around 2300 hrs on 02 Sep 24 for medical evacuation of a seriously injured crew on board Indian flagged motor tanker Hari Leela, about 45 km from Porbandar, in response to a request received from the master of the vessel,” the Coast Guard stated.
The flight diver was safely recovered on Tuesday morning after the ALH wreckage was discovered.
The two bodies found by the search and rescue teams were those of the helicopter's co-pilot, Deputy Commandant Vipin Babu and another flight diver, reportedly.
- With inputs from agencies
