ALH Dhruv Army, IAF variants cleared to fly: HAL

BENGALURU: Defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Thursday said Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) variants of its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv “have been cleared for operations” based on the Defect Investigation (DI) Committee recommendations.
The entire Dhruv fleet across armed forces was grounded following the Jan 5 accident that killed three Coast Guard personnel. Clearance to operate Dhruvs assumes importance in the wake of the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan.
HAL had in Feb defended ALH Dhruv and its CMD DK Sunil had insisted: “Dhruv has more than 4 lakh flying hours collectively and there are no issues with its design or production.” He had noted that both Cemilac (India's military aircraft certifying agency) and an independent Dutch agency have attested to this.
Regarding the Jan 5 accident, Sunil revealed preliminary investigation had found “a fracture in the swashplate” and a defect inspection report was commissioned to find the facts.
He had further said that of the 28 crashes involving Dhruv over 25 years, “13 were due to human error, two due to unknown causes and 13 more due to technical problems”. “Wherever we've identified technical issues, those things have been addressed,” he had said.
Last week, reports quoted the Indian Army to say that a “partial clearance” was granted to operate a few Dhruv helicopters in the Kashmir valley.
On Thursday, HAL said officially that both the Indian Army and IAF versions have been cleared for operations. “...A time-bound plan for the resumption of operations has been worked out with the users,” HAL said Thursday.
Earlier this month, the defence PSU had reiterated that it was working with all its customers including the IAF and was confident of handling the critical issues that are innate to the defence aeronautics and complex flying platforms. It was responding to what it termed “speculative and biased” comments or stories across platforms.