Army Chopper Crashes In J&K’s Kishtwar, All 3 Onboard Evacuated; Inquiry Ordered

On Thursday morning, an Indian Army AHL Dhruv Helicopter with three soldiers on board crashed in a remote area of Jammu and Kashmir with a lot of trees.

In an official release, the Army said, “At 11:15 a.m. on May 4, 2023, an Army Aviation ALH Dhruv helicopter on an operational mission made a precautionary landing on the banks of the Marua river in the Kishtwar region of Jammu and Kashmir.”

The statement said that emergency operations were started right away, and the two pilots and one technician on board were taken to the Command Hospital in Udhampur.

“According to reports, the pilots told the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) that there was a problem with the plane and then made a safe landing. The helicopter may have had a hard landing because the ground was uneven, there was a lot of undergrowth, and the landing spot wasn’t ready,” the report said.

There will be a court of inquiry.

After the crash, the helicopter’s parts were washed away and found in the Marusudar River, which runs through Marwah-Dachhan in the Kishtwar district.

This comes almost a month after an Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter crashed near Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh, on March 16 after it lost touch with the ATC while on a mission. The crash killed both pilots, Lt. Col. Vinay Banu Reddy and Major Jaynta A.

A Court of Inquiry has been asked to find out why the accident happened.

The fleet of ALH Dhruv helicopters only started flying again on Monday. This was less than a month after the Indian Navy stopped the helicopters from flying after an accident off the coast of Mumbai.

At that time, a navy patrol boat saved the three people on board the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).

The Navy has also asked for an investigation into what happened.

After what happened with the Navy, all ALH helicopters in the forces were put on hold.

But now the Indian Army is flying these helicopters again.

Senior officers have been told that the helicopters have been checked by HAL teams, and those that have been given a proof of fitness are now in the air.

But some people are still waiting for their approval. The Navy event investigation report is still being waited for.

The Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as the Indian Coast Guard, all fly ALH helicopters.

The ALH-Dhruv is a twin-engine utility plane that was made by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). In 1984, HAL started to work on AHL Dhruv. Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm (MBB) in Germany helped build the helicopters at first. The first one flew in 1992, but it wasn’t until 2002 that it was certified for use.

HAL says that the airplane has been “type-certified” by the Centre for Military Airworthiness Certification for military use and by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for civilian use. Dhruv Mk-I, Mk-II, Mk-III, and Mk-IV are the four main types of Dhruv.