NEW DELHI: A sailor was killed on Saturday in an accident involving a Chetak helicopter during its ground taxi maintenance at the naval air station INS Garuda at Kochi.
A board of inquiry has been ordered to probe the accident in which the sailor, leading air mechanic Yogendra Singh, was killed at around 2 pm on the runway at INS Garuda, which is adjacent to the Southern Naval Commandheadquarters at Kochi.“The accident took place on the ground… the chopper was not flying,” an officer said.
The armed forces have been demanding new light utility helicopters to replace their old Cheetah/Chetak choppers, which number around 350, for almost two decades now. Much like the MiG-21 supersonic fighters, the Cheetah/Chetak helicopters are of the design vintage of the 1960s, lack modern avionics and in-built safety mechanisms, as reported by TOI earlier.
A board of inquiry has been ordered to probe the accident in which the sailor, leading air mechanic Yogendra Singh, was killed at around 2 pm on the runway at INS Garuda, which is adjacent to the Southern Naval Commandheadquarters at Kochi.“The accident took place on the ground… the chopper was not flying,” an officer said.
The armed forces have been demanding new light utility helicopters to replace their old Cheetah/Chetak choppers, which number around 350, for almost two decades now. Much like the MiG-21 supersonic fighters, the Cheetah/Chetak helicopters are of the design vintage of the 1960s, lack modern avionics and in-built safety mechanisms, as reported by TOI earlier.