PC grounds Dhruv after two crashes

Ray

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PC grounds Dhruv after two crashes

New Delhi, Jan. 31: Home minister P. Chidambaram today announced that the Dhruv helicopters the BSF has been operating would remain grounded "until a replacement is found", the decision coming in the wake of a series of crashes involving the utility choppers.

"Unless a replacement of Dhruv helicopters is found, we will have to do with (the air force's) Mi-17s," Chidambaram said.

The minister said he had ordered the grounding of the helicopters, part of the border force's air wing, following two crashes, one near Ranchi in October and the other near Raipur this month.

At least seven Dhruv choppers, manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and designed to meet the requirement of both military and civil operators, have crashed in recent years in India, Nepal and Ecuador.

A source in the BSF, which maintained a fleet of seven Dhruvs before the crashes near Ranchi and Raipur, said three of the remaining five had already been taken off active duty for mandatory servicing after 500 hours of flying.

The source said the BSF was waiting for a report of a probe by civil aviation regulator DGCA into the crashes. "If they are due to a generic fault, the Dhruvs will remain grounded," the source said.

The BSF official, however, did not say whether the helicopters would fly again if the fault was not generic.

Helicopters are a major tool in the Centre's scheme of logistics, especially in the Maoist-affected states. The home ministry has wet-leased six Mi-17s from a private consortium to operate in rebel-infested zones. But till these helicopters, expected to get operational sometime in February, are pressed into service, transporting security forces in central India could be a problem.

PC grounds Dhruv after two crashes
Is the problem poor piloting or is there some shortfalls in operating the Dhruv.

The design of the Dhruv has been in collaboration with Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) of Germany.
 

Armand2REP

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WTH man... 7 crashes?!? It is becoming the flying coffin of helicopters.
 

hitesh

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ALH seems to be too advance & too light to be operated by IF
 

balai_c

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BSF ,folks, dhruv is excellent. Army has no problems with it.
 

balai_c

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s the problem poor piloting or is there some shortfalls in operating the Dhruv.

The design of the Dhruv has been in collaboration with Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) of Germany.
The problem is with flying, it seems.
 

bhramos

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The home ministry has wet-leased six Mi-17s from a private consortium to operate in rebel-infested zones. But till these helicopters, expected to get operational sometime in February, are pressed into service, transporting security forces in central India could be a problem.
which private company operates Mi-17 heli's in India..........???
 

lemontree

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The home ministry has wet-leased six Mi-17s from a private consortium to operate in rebel-infested zones. But till these helicopters, expected to get operational sometime in February, are pressed into service, transporting security forces in central India could be a problem.
which private company operates Mi-17 heli's in India..........???
You hit the nail on the head. That my question too...which is this private consortium that has wet leased these choppers.
What authority does Chidu have to ground aviation assets?
 

agentperry

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excellent.

bsf is so dear to govt that with 2 dhruv crashes they grounded the entire fleet and are looking for replacement too. where as iaf is losing migs continuously since 80s and still they are not grounded and their replacement is still to be thought of
 

Ray

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Chiadmbaram,being a Chettiar, is sniffing money?

is that what you mean?
 

Kunal Biswas

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Dhruv is running good in IA as well as IAF..
The problem is only BSF and CRPF, If you operate so little fleet so frequently it will start malfunction..

Cheetah and Lancer are best for you, Single turbine less maintenance less complicated..
I wonder how MI-17 will do, they need more maintenance..
 

Prometheus

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Dhruv is running good in IA as well as IAF..
The problem is only BSF and CRPF, If you operate so little fleet so frequently it will start malfunction..

Cheetah and Lancer are best for you, Single turbine less maintenance less complicated..
I wonder how MI-17 will do, they need more maintenance..
Even Army and Air Force Dhruv's are crashing there is something seriously wrong with this chopper:
In November 2005, a Dhruv a crash-landed in Andhra Pradesh, causing the entire fleet to be grounded; the subsequent probe found a fault with the helicopter's tail rotor blades, which has since been corrected.[23][24]

On 2 February 2007, during rehearsals prior to Aero India, a HAL Dhruv of the Sarang helicopter display team of the Indian Air Force crashed, killing co-pilot Squadron Leader Priye Sharma and wounding the pilot Wing Commander Vikas Jetley;[113] Vikas Jetley died in January 2011 after being in a coma for over 3 years. It was concluded that the accident was caused by pilot error.[citation needed] The helicopter team continued to perform in the air show.[114]

In October 2009, a Dhruv helicopter of the Ecuadorian Air Force flew into terrain while attempting to fly in formation with two other helicopters close to an air force base near Quito. Air Force General Leonardo Barreiro told reporters that the helicopter had been destroyed in the crash.[115] The remaining six aircraft were grounded during the investigation, which later concluded pilot error to be the cause.[116]

In February 2010, a Dhruv helicopter team of the Indian Air Force was forced to make a crash landing while rehearsing for the "Vayu Shakti" air power show. An IAF official was quoted as stating "Both pilots are safe after they had to make a controlled crash-landing due to loss of power in the chopper".[23]

On 21 April 2011, four army personnel were killed in a Dhruv helicopter crash in north Sikkim.[117]

On 19 October 2011, a Dhruv operated by India's Border Security Force (BSF) crashed in north-east India, resulting in the deaths of the three crew on board. Immediately following the crash, the remaining five Dhruvs of the CRPF were grounded.[118]

On 15 January 2012, a Border Security Force Dhruv crashed onto the runway at Raipur airport. The helicopter was engaged in a series of test flights when the crash occurred, there were no deaths but all five of the crew onboard were injured.[119]
Even the mi8 which were produced in such large numbers (over 17,000) and with primitive technology, and inducted in so many armys havent had these many crashes
 
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sayareakd

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excellent.

bsf is so dear to govt that with 2 dhruv crashes they grounded the entire fleet and are looking for replacement too. where as iaf is losing migs continuously since 80s and still they are not grounded and their replacement is still to be thought of
Well like Army, AF also trust Russian maal.
 

Kunal Biswas

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Obviously you didn't care to read the content what you replied me, Let me reply you in your own post ..

In November 2005, a Dhruv a crash-landed in Andhra Pradesh, causing the entire fleet to be grounded; the subsequent probe found a fault with the helicopter's tail rotor blades, which has since been corrected.[23][24]

On 2 February 2007, during rehearsals prior to Aero India, a HAL Dhruv of the Sarang helicopter display team of the Indian Air Force crashed, killing co-pilot Squadron Leader Priye Sharma and wounding the pilot Wing Commander Vikas Jetley;[113] Vikas Jetley died in January 2011 after being in a coma for over 3 years. It was concluded that the accident was caused by pilot error.[citation needed] The helicopter team continued to perform in the air show.[114]

In October 2009, a Dhruv helicopter of the Ecuadorian Air Force flew into terrain while attempting to fly in formation with two other helicopters close to an air force base near Quito. Air Force General Leonardo Barreiro told reporters that the helicopter had been destroyed in the crash.[115] The remaining six aircraft were grounded during the investigation, which later concluded pilot error to be the cause.[116]

In February 2010, a Dhruv helicopter team of the Indian Air Force was forced to make a crash landing while rehearsing for the "Vayu Shakti" air power show. An IAF official was quoted as stating "Both pilots are safe after they had to make a controlled crash-landing due to loss of power in the chopper".[23]

On 21 April 2011, four army personnel were killed in a Dhruv helicopter crash in north Sikkim.[117]

On 19 October 2011, a Dhruv operated by India's Border Security Force (BSF) crashed in north-east India, resulting in the deaths of the three crew on board. Immediately following the crash, the remaining five Dhruvs of the CRPF were grounded.[118]

On 15 January 2012, a Border Security Force Dhruv crashed onto the runway at Raipur airport. The helicopter was engaged in a series of test flights when the crash occurred, there were no deaths but all five of the crew onboard were injured.
[119]


Even Army and Air Force Dhruv's are crashing there is something seriously wrong with this chopper: Even the mi8 which were produced in such large numbers and with primitive technology, and inducted in so many armys havent had these many crashes
RED = Real fault
BLUE = Pilot error & Bad weather
GREEN = Lack of Maintenance..


About Green = High sorties and less maintenance and Pilots didn't had training for Dhruv, BSF dont know really how to opearte these Choppers..

3. Investigation revealed that the accident was caused due to loss of Situational Awareness wherein the flight crew got spatially disorientated. As a result, the helicopter went beyond the flight envelope exceeding its structural limits and thereby leading to failure of the rotor system. The Pilot had inadvertently entered clouds while executing a turn to return back to the base for a cautionary landing, due to 'Tail Gear Box Hot' warning. The route weather was marginal. The contributory factors for the accident were inadequacies in IF experience, training/ knowledge of aircraft systems and failure of Cockpit Resource Management. ALH being a recent induction in PHHL, crew's experience on type was limited which hindered effective use of onboard systems for a recovery. HAL's product support to the aircraft operator and monitoring its sub contractor activities were considered inadequate.

In view of the above findings, the Committee recommends that PHHL must evolve a comprehensive induction plan for conversion training and consolidation flying of the pilots with no previous experience on multi engine helicopters and IFR operations. HAL should review the conversion training standards for ALH to accommodate pilots from different backgrounds, with mandatory use of simulator. As manufacturer, HAL needs to enhance its support to the operators in terms of maintenance and training.
From : Government Source http://dgca.nic.in/accident/reports/VT-BSH.pdf

======================================================

There are only two incident in span of 12 years of service ( 2005, 2010 ) HAL Dhruv had technical issues, Which is very good record compare to MI-8 / 17 or other helos in Indian armed forces, you can search that on web..
 

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