NEW DELHI/CHENNAI: The fatal crash of the Mi-17 V-5 has taken air force professionals by complete surprise.
That’s because this is one of the most advanced helicopters in the fleet of the Indian Air Force.
To ascertain what happened on Wednesday, every possibility has to be investigated before coming to a conclusion, said air force officers.
“These are the most modern and dependable helicopters India has at present. Their reliability can be easily understood from the fact that these are deployed for even the President and the Prime Minister of our country,” said an Indian Air Force officer on the condition of anonymity.
The Mi-17 V-5 is a multi-role medium-lift aircraft which is equipped with state-of-the-art avionics and navigation systems such as on-board weather radar and autopilot.
The chopper can carry over five tonnes of load and also has an advanced night-vision equipment and a glass cockpit.
The supply of these helicopters from Russia began in 2011 with an initial contract for 80 helicopters. Later, 71 more were bought in batches which were inducted into the force by 2018.
“Indian Air Force follows its standard operating procedures meticulously and everything is checked and confirmed to be fit to fly before a go-ahead is given to fly such a machine,” another officer commented.
Talking about the crash, the officer said it has shocked the armed forces.
“These are machines and snag can happen sometime. We have begun the Court of Inquiry to ascertain the reason,” he said.
Produced by Kazan Helicopters, a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters, Mi-17 V-5 has hardly had one or two emergencies, requiring immediate landing.
“Such emergencies could pertain to Tail Rotor failure or both engines failing due to fire. This rarely happens. In the last 30-40 years there may have been one or two cases,” says a former air force personnel with extensive flying experience.
The helicopter would have been thoroughly checked before being used to transport VVIPs like General Rawat.
In such circumstances, it is unlikely a technical snag caused the crash, the expert said, positing weather conditions as a reason for the mishap.
Usually, during the training of pilots, there is a golden rule for flying in the hills and during cloudy weather.
“If you are in clouds, you should be out of the hills and if you are in the hills there should be no clouds around,” the former Air Force pilot said.
This was the mistake committed during the Mi-17 V-5 crash during the Uttarakhand landslides in 2013 in which 20 lives were lost.
“In the Coonoor crash, if there was an emergency, the pilot would have dropped the speed if visibility was poor. But seeing the impact and crash, it has all been burnt. The chopper seems to have impacted the ground at a high speed. The aircraft usually never falls like a stone,” the former pilot said.