NAL-built Saras aircraft crashed:India

[jawadqamar]

NAL-built Saras aircraft crashed:India

In a setback to India’s civil aircraft development programme, a Saras aircraft crashed on Bangalore’s outskirts on Friday during a test flight, killing three Indian Air Force pilots. This could put back the already delayed project schedule by at least two years, analysts said. Crashed: Saras is only the second plane after Hansa—a two-seater trainer aircraft—that is being developed locally. Hemant Mishra/MintTwo prototypes of Saras—being developed by National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) and named after the Indian crane—have flown at least 100 hours since its maiden flight in 2004. A third so-called production-standard aircraft was expected to fly later this year.

NAL expected the aircraft to be certified by 2010. Despite a civil aviation boom in India and airlines buying passenger planes from Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS, the country does not have a strong manufacturing base. Saras is only the second plane after Hansa—a two-seater trainer aircraft—that is being developed locally. NAL is also working on designing a 70-seat passenger plane called the RTA-70 for regional transport.“This will put the programme (behind) by two years. The best way to tackle them is to learn the lessons and produce a better aircraft,” said T.J. Master, chairman of Master Aerospace Consultants Pvt. Ltd, an aerospace consultancy firm. “Aircraft development is fundamental job. It is like fundamental research—it is open to hazards,” Master said. It has been criticized as it is heavier than its desired 7,100kg weight

The cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained. The aircraft was being tested by pilots of aircraft systems and testing establishment, the elite agency of the air force that certifies every plane and system it intends to use. “It is terrible. most unexpected. I am surprised,” said Roddam Narasimha, an eminent aerospace scientist and a former director of NAL.“There will be setbacks. We have to move forward,” said M.S. Chidananda, project director of Saras at NAL. An inquiry will be ordered to ascertain reasons for the crash, he said. Till the inquiry is completed, the other aircraft will be grounded. The air force is slated to be the first customer for Saras and had expressed an interest to buy 15 of the 14-seater passenger planes that could be used for transporting goods. The plane was to be built by military plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

Saras is powered by two turboprop engines of Canada’s Pratt and Whitney and designed to take off and land on small runways. It is expected to replace the air force’s ageing Dornier 228 transport aircraft fleet, which it has used since the 1980s. German plane maker Dornier Gmbh, which has since ceased to exist, lost an aircraft during development trials of the Dornier 228.Saras, which has seen delays due to non-availability of components following the 1998 US sanctions, has been criticized because it is heavier than its desired weight of 7,100kg. The third aircraft was to be lighter by 500kg by using lightweight composites that would replace some metal parts.

 

[notsuperstitious]

condolences to the families of the crewmembers.

 

[Awesome]

condolences to the families of the crewmembers.

Condolences for the crew from Pakistan as well!

 

[metalfalcon]

Human Life is precious regardless of which nation they belong or with which name they call God.

RIP to those who died.

 

[ejaz007]

Expert highlights deficiencies in Saras flight control system
Ravi Sharma
DGCA board to probe into aircraft crash

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The prototype went down as its IAF crew were verifying an engine relight

Tunnel tests by NAL establish that there were shortcomings in flight control

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BANGALORE: Did the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), the designers of the indigenous Saras light transport aircraft — a prototype of which crashed on March 6 killing its three-man Indian Air Force (IAF) crew — err in flying the aircraft?

A senior NAL official told The Hindu that an independent, but a brief review in last December of the design aspects, including the Saras’ flight control system by an aviation specialist from Germany, had brought out deficiencies in the aircraft’s existing controls and “recommended modifications, changes and further reviews to address existing problems.”

Rudder control

On the aircraft’s rudder control, the specialist had even gone as far as stating: “On one of the quadrants in the empennage of the Saras, the cable guard limits the rotation of the quadrant. By rotating the quadrant, the cable will be stretched and it causes a load increase in the cable tension and may limit deflection angle of the control surface. In addition, this changes the kinematics. This should be investigated and corrected prior [to] next flight.”

During his four-day visit, the expert had discussed with officials connected with the Saras programme, “aerodynamic issues, especially on the balanced and trim tab, control forces in the rudder control system during single engine operation, centring of the aileron control [and] loads on the flap system.”

The expert then provided NAL with an executive summary of the individual issues which were discussed, explaining that while in some areas recommendations could directly be given, in other fields more detailed investigations would have to be performed.

Official sources close to the Saras programme also told The Hindu that wind tunnel tests carried out by NAL had established that there were shortcomings in the aircraft’s flight controls.

The twin-engine prototype went down as its IAF test crew were involved in verifying for the first time on the Saras an engine relight (shutting off and restarting, in sequence the engines in mid air).

The ill-fated prototype was fitted with new Pratt and Whitney engines that were not only larger in size, demanding modifications to the aircraft’s stub wings and the strengthening of the rear fuselage, but also produced a higher thrust (1,200 shaft horsepower) compared to the engines (850 shaft horsepower) that are flying the Saras’ first prototype.

Officials tight-lipped

Though they acknowledge the German expert’s findings, NAL officials were tight-lipped on whether the highlighted design deficiencies were investigated or corrected.

All that a senior official with the programme would say was that “the report was only a first information report on the aircraft and it would be incorrect to go by the spirit of the report.” He also added that it would be incorrect to say that the prototype was not fit to fly.

NAL Director A.R. Upadhya declined to comment.

The recently constituted board of inquiry of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation, which will look into what went wrong when the prototype crashed, will start functioning from Monday.


:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::