Chennai, India

The Indian Coast Guard lost two personnel who were onboard the Advanced Light Helicopter that made a hard landing in the late hours of Monday (Sep 2) off the Gujarat coast, amid a medical evacuation operation. While one crew member of that chopper has been rescued, four ships and two aircraft of the ICG are continuing their search for the Captain of the chopper. 

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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 what caused this tragedy.

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 for medical evacuation of a seriously injured crew member. 

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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 chopper was deployed and saved 67 lives. 

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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 were safe.