Indian defence forces on Saturday grounded its fleet of the indigenous Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) following three crashes in the last two months.

The decision was taken as a precautionary measure to prevent and this is the second time when the entire fleet of the Dhruv ALH has been grounded. ALH Dhruv helicopters were grounded for more than a month and were resumed a few days back. However, two crashes took place that involved the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.

The most recent accident took place on May 4 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district after the helicopter crashed due to a technical snag. The incident killed one technician who was on board, while both pilots sustained injuries.

Reports said an ALH Dhruv helicopter was on an operational mission and made a precautionary landing on the banks of the Marua River in the Kishtwar region. The pilots had reported the technical fault to the Air Traffic Controller and proceeded for a precautionary landing.

The helicopter, however, crashed due to the undulating ground, undergrowth, and unprepared landing area.

The ALH helicopters are used by all three defence forces—Army, Navy, and Air Force, along with the Indian Coast Guard. The three services operate around 300 variants of the ALH, with the army accounting for the most – 96 ALHs and 75 armed versions called Rudra.

Earlier, ALH operations were grounded in 2006 due to tail rotor problems and in 2014 following a crash.

The post Army grounds Dhruv ALH helicopter following three crashes in two months appeared first on APN News.