Why Are Our Choppers Crashing?

A long history of mishaps, ageing machines and poor maintenance, not to mention a dire need for more machines, explain why a series of the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopters have gone down

- PRADIP R. SAGAR

Helicopters, especially of the utility variety, have been the lifeline of the Indian military. They are used in search and rescue operations and reconnaissance missions, and are indispensable for supplying essential provisions as well as arms and ammunition to India's high-altitude border areas, including to the Siachen glacier, "the world's highest battlefield". Even though road connectivity to border areas in Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim has improved, choppers play a significant role in last-mile reach along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Line of Control (LoC). However, a recent spate of crashes of the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH)-the workhorse of the Indian armed forces-has set off alarm bells in the military establishment.

In the past three months, three crashes have taken place, involving upgraded variants of this aircraft used by three different services-on March 8 of one used by the Navy, another used by the Coast Guard on March 26 and a third used by the Army on May 4. According to the military's standard operating procedure, the accidents led to the grounding of the entire fleet of over 250 ALH Dhruvs and its weaponised version, ALH Rudras, for detailed checks. In recent years, the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)-manufactured ALH fleet has been grounded in 2022, after a crash in Arunachal; in 2014, after an accident in Uttar Pradesh, and in 2006, after several machines developed mechanical problems. All this has drawn attention towards, and cast serious doubts over, the quality of choppers the armed forces rely upon so much. Multiple issues like ageing machines, poor maintenance and defective spares are seen as the main reasons for the crashes.