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India Wants To Know Why US Chinook CH-47 Helicopters Have Been Grounded

Story Highlights
  • The Journal said, "One of the officials said that the fires happened in the past few days." "Out of an abundance of caution, the US Army Materiel Command shut down its fleet of hundreds of helicopters."
  • The Journal said that putting the heavy-lift Chinook helicopters on the ground could make it hard for American soldiers to do their jobs, depending on how long the order lasts.

India on Wednesday asked for more information about why the US Army had to ground all of its Chinook CH-47 helicopters because of the risk of engine fires.

A media report on Tuesday said that the US Army has put all of its Chinook helicopters on the ground. These helicopters have been a mainstay on the battlefield since the 1960s.

Indian officials say that the country has about 15 CH-47 Chinook helicopters.


In the past few years, they have become one of the most important military tools for airlift operations in places like Ladakh and the Siachen glaciers to help Indian troops who are stationed there.

In February of 2019, India got its first group of Chinook helicopters. In 2020, the Indian Air Force got all 15 Chinook helicopters that Boeing had sent to them.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, said that such a big step was taken to be extra safe.

The Journal said, “One of the officials said that the fires happened in the past few days.” “Out of an abundance of caution, the US Army Materiel Command shut down its fleet of hundreds of helicopters.”

Officials told the Wall Street Journal that the US Army knew of a few engine fires in the helicopters, but that no one was hurt or killed as a result.

Officials told the daily that they were looking at more than 70 planes that had a part that was thought to be related to the problem.

The Journal said that putting the heavy-lift Chinook helicopters on the ground could make it hard for American soldiers to do their jobs, depending on how long the order lasts.

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