Coast Guard's ALH Dhruv helicopter makes emergency landing in Kerala's Kochi

An Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-DHRUV) Mark 3 helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) was forced to make a landing in Kerala's Kochi on Sunday, while the pilots were testing the chopper. As per preliminary reports, one person has fractured his hand.

The ICG is working towards resuming the operations of the ALH Dhruv fleet.

"An incident of forced landing of an ALH Dhruv Mark 3 helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard today took place in Kochi while the pilots of the force were testing the chopper. The chopper was at around 25 feet height when it had to make a forced landing. The ICG is working towards resuming the operations of the ALH Dhruv fleet," ICG officials said in a statement.

The fleet of ALH Dhruv choppers has been grounded since March 8 after a Navy chopper met with an accident off the coast of Mumbai.

"CG 855, an ALH Mk III based at Kochi, got airborne from Cochin International Airport at about 1225 hours for inflight checks after fitment of control rods on aircraft. Prior to the inflight checks, the HAL and ICG Team had carried out extensive and satisfactory ground trials on 26 Mar 2023," it said.

"Immediately after takeoff, when CG 855 was at about 30-40 ft above ground, the cyclic controls ( which controls longitudinal and lateral movement of aircraft) did not respond. Showing exemplary professionalism and presence of mind, the pilot with bare minimum controls manoeuvred the aircraft away from the main runway to avoid blocking the runway at the international airport," it added.

"He thereafter, cushioned the landing to the extent possible in order to save the three souls onboard. The aircraft veered to the left and crashed onto the left side of main runway. All crew are safe. The aircraft has sustained damage to its rotors and airframe. The Indian Coast Guard has ordered an Inquiry, to investigate the cause of the accident," ICG further said.