Smoke billowing out from the crashed ALH MK III helicoper at Porbandar Airport today.
Porbandar: Two pilots and one aircrew diver were killed in an accident involving the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) MK-III of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in Porbandar today, the Ministry of Defence stated.
The ICG helicopter with two pilots and one aircrew diver was on a routine training sortie. It met with an accident at the Porbandar airport runway in Gujarat at about 1215 hours.
“Immediately after the incident, the crew were recovered and shifted to Government Hospital, Porbandar, where they were declared ‘brought dead’,” the ICG stated. It informed that the mortal remains of the crew – Commandant JG Saurabh, Deputy Commandant SK Yadav and Manoj Pradhan Navik will be cremated as per service traditions and honour.
The reasons for the accident were being investigated by a Board of Inquiry, the Ministry of Defence said.
The ALH MK III helicopters have been indigenously manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). They feature state-of-the-art equipment including advanced RADAR as well as Electro-optical sensors, Shakti engines, a full glass cockpit, a high-intensity searchlight, advanced communication systems, an automatic identification system as well a SAR homer.
– global bihari bureau
