Hal-built army chopper makes emergency landing

NEWDELHI: A Rudra Mk IV armed chopper, built at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), on Tuesday made an emergency landing outside Bengaluru due to possible hydraulic failure, two officials familiar with the development said on condition of anonymity. The pilot and the weapon systems officer are safe.

The chopper mishap comes four days after two Indian Air Force pilots were killed when their Mirage-2000 fighter crashed during takeoff at the HAL airport. The French-origin trainer aircraft, manufactured by Dassault Aviation, was on an acceptance sortie after being upgraded at HAL. The Rudra was also on an acceptance sortie, said one of the officials cited above.

An HAL spokesperson said that a technical team was rushed to the site after the Rudra chopper, a weaponised armed version of the indigenously-built Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv, made a precautionary landing. Asked if the chopper was

on an acceptance sortie, the HAL official said the machine belonged to the Army Aviation Corps and was part of a Rudra squadron that operates from the HAL facility.

The official said the chopper was flown back to the HAL facility. The incident involving the Rudra comes at a time when questions are being raised about the capabilities of the state-

owned plane maker and several projects are behind schedule.

There are four weapon stations on the Rudra with a turret gun in its nose area. The helicopters are also equipped with air-toair missiles, 70 mm rockets and 20 mm turret guns. New variants are being equipped with antitank guided missiles, infrared jammers and obstacle avoidance systems.