Three killed in IAF copter crash

[RPK]

The Hindu : News / National : Three killed in IAF copter crash


Three Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel, including a pilot and a co-pilot, were killed on Saturday when a Chetak helicopter carrying them crashed in bad weather at a remote place in Jharkhand.

The chopper was on its way to Baghdogra air base from air force station Kalaikunda in West Bengal when it encountered bad weather and crashed near Sinharsi air base along the border of Pakur and Godda districts of Jharkhand, Eastern Command spokesperson and a senior state police official told PTI.

The deceased were two pilots and a co-pilot of Chetak, Deputy Inspector General of Police D.K. Pandey said in Pakur.

He said the crash took place in an area under Sundarpahari police station around 4 p.m.

Bad weather was stated to be the cause behind the crash.

The IAF has ordered an inquiry into the incident to ascertain the causes behind the accident, the spokesperson said.

This is the second crash of Chetak in a fortnight. On August 27, another Chetak helicopter had crashed moments after take-off during a training mission at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport in Bangalore.

 

[ratnas]

may their souls rest in peace

 

[SpArK]

RIP the IAF personnel.

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

Rest In Peace!

 

[SivHp]

So sad..let them Rest in peace..Hope God give their families enough courage.

 

[!!craft!!]

RIP...........

 

[Capt.Popeye]

RIP to those departed.

The next question is how good are these choppers now. This helicopter was inducted around the mid 1960s. Soon thereafter HAL commenced production. That is one hell of a while ago. At that time they (Chetaks and Cheetahs) were some of the best helicopters available and possessed some outstanding performance. And the decision to both acquire and produce them remains one of the wisest in the field of Defence Procurement in India. Their contemporaries like the Soviet Mi-4s, American S-55s and British Whirlwinds have long since evaporated from public view. Now these are very tired birds.

Its time that GoI accelerates the process of their replacement. For some of the tasks that they were configured for, the replacement- Dhruv already exists, while for the over-water (IN) role the replacement is still being sought, which is a pity.
The SA 365C Dauphin 2 (Harbin Z-9 with Pakistan/China) helicopter came into Indian service with Pawan Hans in the late 1980s. It is a generation later than the Chetaks. These helicopters have flown extensively for offshore oil-field support in India.

Time for the Chetaks to pass on. Better to re-incarnate them as Unmanned Rotorcraft (like the Firescout) than face the prospects of increasing accidents.