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More than two weeks after an accident off the Mumbai coast, the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard have continued to keep their ALH Dhruv chopper fleets grounded as thorough checks are being carried out on specific parts of the indigenous helicopters.
The Indian Army cleared some of its machines for operations in the choppers after they remained grounded for around 10 days. "ALH Dhruv choppers of the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard continue to remain grounded as checks are being carried out on them. The fleet of these choppers was grounded after an accident in Mumbai on March 8," Defence officials said here. The choppers were grounded after an Indian Navy chopper ditched near the Mumbai coast while it was carrying out a sortie over sea. The ALH Dhruv has become one of the important parts of helicopter missions undertaken by all three forces involved in different terrains as choppers are deployed over there. The Indian Coast Guard and Navy together operate around 40 of these Indian choppers which are used for operations over the sea. During the March 8 incident, the pilot carried out controlled ditching over water and all three aircrews exited the helicopter safely and were recovered as part of a swift rescue operation. The ditched helicopter had deployed its emergency flotation gear and it was salvaged. (ANI)
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