A Court of Inquiry has been initiated to find out the causes of the helicopter accident.
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said in a statement that the ICG ALH Mk-III helicopter CG 859 crashed on the runway of Porbandar airport at about 1215 hrs on 5 January. At the time of the incident, the ICG helicopter had 2 pilots and 1 aircrew diver on board. Helicopter was on a routine training flight.”
Four months ago in September, an ALH Mk-III helicopter crashed into the Arabian Sea near Porbandar. Three crew members on board went missing. Later, the bodies of two of them were found but the search for pilot Rakesh Kumar Rana, who was commanding the mission, continued. After nearly a month of searching, his body was recovered by the Coast Guard off the Gujarat coast in October.
The helicopter crashed while trying to evacuate an injured person on board the motor tanker Hari Leela, about 30 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast.
Apart from the Coast Guard, the Dhruv helicopter is extensively used by the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. Two years ago they were grounded as some flaws were noticed but after a security audit these helicopters resumed operations.
