ALH of Sarang team crashes, co-pilot killed

Bangalore, Feb 2 (UNI) In a tragic curtain raiser to Aero India 2007, to take off on February seven, an indigenously built Dhruv (ALH) helicopter of the Sarang aerobatic display team crashed at the Yelahanka base of the Indian Air Force, killing a pilot and seriously injuring another.

IAF sources here said the Dhruv helicopter was in practise session for the aerial display when the mishap occurred around 0915 hrs. The helicopter was moving to the far end of the runway in preparation of a cross over display, in which two copters fly in from opposite directions. According to initial reports, the crash was due to the chopper losing height.

Both the pilots were immediately rushed to the hospital. While co-pilot Sqn Ldr Priye Sharma of Patna succumbed to injuries at a hospital, the condition of pilot Wg Cdr V Jaitley of Delhi, who sustained head injuries, was stated to be serious, the sources said.

A court of inquiry was ordered into the mishap.

This was the second mishap involving ALH. On November 25, 2005, a civil variant of Dhruv, ordered by the Jharkhand Government, force landed in Hyderabad following a defect in the tail rotor.

Subsequently, HAL had grounded all Dhruvs operated by the Indian defence forces and replaced the tail rotor after rejigging it. HAL had produced over 60 Dhruvs and planned to step up production of the chopper from next year to meet the requirements of the three forces.

It was planning to test soon ALH with a high power Shakti engine, jointly developed by HAL and Snecma.

UNI