Army helicopter crashes in eastern Ladakh, all safe

NEW DELHI: Two Army generals and two other officers had a narrow escape when their Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH) crashed almost immediately after taking off in eastern Ladakh on Tuesday afternoon, once again underlining the high crash rate of fighters, aircraft and choppers in the Indian armed forces.Lt-General S K Upadhya, general officer commanding of the Leh-based 14 Corps, and Major-General Savneet Singh, GoC of the 3 Infantry Division at Karu, and the others sustained only scratches and minor injuries when the twin-engine Dhruv helicopter hit the ground at the high-altitude Tsogstalu helipad at about 2 pm."The indigenous 5.5-ton chopper, on a general reconnaissance and familiarization mission for the new corps commander, crashed barely two minutes after it took off from the helipad located at around 16,000-feet. The crew and passengers are safe and sound but the chopper suffered extensive damage," said an officer.Though the court of inquiry ordered into the incident will establish the exact reason for the crash, sources said pilots reported "loss of the right rudder (which controls the tail rotor)" soon after getting airborne. "Such things happen in super high-altitude regions because helicopters operate at the very limits of their design and flight envelope. Even a sudden gust of wind can change the entire equation," said a military pilot.While military aviation is certainly inherently dangerous, it's also true that a high crash rate continues to dog the armed forces. Just since 2011, the three Services have lost over 50 aircraft and 22 helicopters have been lost in crashes, in which at least 85 people have been killed.Incidentally, Army chief General Bipin Rawat had himself emerged unscathed when his single-engine Cheetah helicopter had crashed immediately after taking off from a helipad in Nagaland in February 2015. The Army generally does not allow two generals from travelling together in a single-engine helicopter in high-altitude areas.The armed forces, on one hand, are making do with the virtually obsolete single-engine Cheetah/Chetak light utility helicopters because of the failure of successive governments to take decisions in time, defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd's tardy performance and, of course, recurring corruption scandals in defence deals.On the other, the twin-engine Dhruv helicopters manufactured by HAL have also come under the scanner due to frequent crashes, with the Army alone recording at least 20 accidents since 2002. The armed forces have inducted over 200 Dhruvs since 2002 but the entire fleet has been grounded a few times due to technical snags in the past, which included being found unsuitable for multi-role requirements due to excess weight and limited engine power.Incidentally, HAL inked yet another contract for 40 additional Dhruvs for the Army and one for the Navy for around Rs 6,100 crore on Monday. This came soon after another deal for 32 Dhruvs for the Navy and Coast Guard was inked with HAL in March.