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Two pilots and an aircrew diver of an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) of the Indian Coast Guard were killed when the chopper crashed and caught fire at Gujarat's Porbandar airport on Sunday, government authorities said.
The crew members killed in the accident are Commandant Saurabh, Deputy Commandant SK Yadav and Manoj Pradhan Navik, according to the defence ministry.
"An ALH MK-III helicopter of Indian Coast Guard met with an accident at Porbandar airport runway in Gujarat at about 1215 hours on January 5. The ICG helicopter, with two pilots and one aircrew diver, was on a routine training sortie," the defence ministry said in a statement.
The Dhruv chopper, which is operated by the armed forces, was on a routine sortie when it crashed, said Porbandar Superintendent of Police Bhagirathsinh Jadeja. The chopper crashed near the runway and caught fire, visuals showed. The blaze was later brought under control with the help of a fire engine, said the police officer.
The three crew members were brought out of the chopper and rushed to a hospital in Porbandar in a severely burnt condition, the police officer added.
The reason behind the crash is still not known and an inquiry has been launched.
The Indian Coast Guard is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency, with jurisdiction in India's territorial waters.
The indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv) is a twin engine, multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5 ton weight class.
Four months ago in September, three crew members went missing after the ALH MK-III helicopter fell into the Arabian Sea off Porbandar. While the bodies of two crew members were recovered subsequently, a search continued to trace Rakesh Kumar Rana, the pilot in command of the mission.
After a month-long search, the pilot's body was recovered in October off the Gujarat coast by the Coast Guard.
The chopper crashed while trying to evacuate an injured man on board motor tanker Hari Leela, nearly 30 nautical miles from the Porbandar coast.
Two years ago, a string of flaws were identified in the ALH Dhruv chopper, which is operated by the Army, Navy and the Air Force.
There were certain design and metallurgy issues in some components that were identified. The scrutiny was carried out after accidents involving the platform that had forced the Army and the Indian Air Force to ground their fleets.
The choppers that were grounded resumed their operations following the completion of the safety audit.
The Indian Navy, the IAF, the Army and the Coast Guard have a total of over 325 ALH Dhruv helicopters and all of them underwent technical checks following the incidents of accidents in 2023.