Six ships, four of the Indian Coast Guard and two of the Indian Navy, are carrying out a search and rescue operation to locate the captain of a missing Indian Coast Guard helicopter, which hard landed at sea during the late hours of Monday, September 2nd, off the Gujarat Coast. Aircraft have also been deployed as part of this operation. So far, two of the four crew members who flew on the ill-fated mission of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) have died, and one has been rescued. The air and sea search operations for the missing captain continue.
The average depth in the search and rescue region is learnt to be 55 metres. The Indian Navy’s specialised vessel and clearance diving team are also assisting with this ongoing operation, the efforts to salvage the helicopter that hard-landed at sea.
Earlier this week, official communication from the Indian Coast Guard had mentioned that the “wreckage” of the chopper had been spotted, clearly indicating the scale of the tragedy that unfolded at sea. So far, there has been no clarity on the underlying cause.
According to the Indian Coast Guard, the ALH was mission deployed at 11 pm, 2nd September, Monday, in response to a request from a distressed tanker vessel ‘Hari Leela’ that was 45 km off Porbandar, Gujarat. The Indian vessel’s captain had requested the medical evacuation of a seriously injured crew member.
The hard-landing incident happened whilst the rescue helicopter was approaching the vessel for the evacuation. Amid the recent cyclonic weather off Gujarat and the flood-like situation in parts of the state, the same helicopter was deployed and saved 67 lives. While the chopper could not perform the mission, an ICG Ship rescued the injured crew member of the vessel, Hari Leela.
It is notable that the Advanced Light Helicopter comes with floatation devices that can be deployed when the helicopter makes an upright, controlled water landing. In March 2023, an Indian Navy ALH made a controlled water landing, off Mumbai, and deployed its floatation devices. At the time, the chopper experienced a sudden loss of power and a rapid loss of height. However, owing to the controlled and upright water landing, the chopper was in a salvageable condition and all three crew members were safe.
Sidharth MP
The author is Chennai-based reporter with Wion