The helicopter accident in Ranchi in which Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda suffered injuries on Wednesday is likely to have been caused by a radar malfunction, initial investigations show.
As per preliminary probe reports from the Jharkhand capital, the radar appeared to have malfunctioned. This had led to problems in the twin-engined helicopter in landing at Kuchai in Saraikela-Kharsawan district, about 100 kms from Ranchi.
Sources said after the Agusta AW 109 chopper failed to land at Kuchai, it went back to Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport but again failed to land.
This led the pilots to “force it down”, leading to the crash-landing at 12.30 p.m., they said, adding that the chopper turned turtle on hitting the ground causing injuries to Mr. Munda and others.
Aviation regulator DGCA has already begun to probe the helicopter accident with its Assistant Director (Air Safety) Sanit Kumar as the Investigating Officer, Director General of Civil Aviation E.K. Bharat Bhushan had earlier told PTI.
All aspects of the accident, including the reported technical snag, is being investigated by the DGCA probe panel, official sources said.
@ Ganesh Kumar: Don’t shoot from the hip. If you read the news
carefully it was reported that consequent to problem with Radar the
landing was forced. Radar is vital element while landing when the
huge dust envelope obscure the vision. A slightest miscue can result
in helicopter over turning. Before condemning DGCA take time to go
through the world class investigation of Air Indian Express
Mangalore crash, under Air Marshal B.N. Gokhale It was a world
class report very professionally done. If you nothing positive say
there is no need to be unkindly critical of DGCA.
One of the major hazards of landing a helicopter is the amount of
dust Main Rotors kicks up during landing. These mini dust storms that
envelope helicopters are known as 'degraded visual environments' in
the military, and when a helicopter is coming in for a precision
landing they often cause pilots to slightly lose their bearings and
drift into small objects. A radar imaging system allows pilots to see
small objects on the ground such as rocks or equipment for smoother
landings.
I really doubt the credibility of DGCA when it comes to investigating crashes. It is very naive to make a statement that radar could have caused the engine failure. Radar is used for navigation and flight following, and doesnt have anything to do with control surfaces and engine. They should look into the choppers flight data recorder first before releasing any statement. Pilot's ability can also be questioned here whether he made the correct approach for landing.
Please Email the Editor