Ecuador crash will not affect ALH exports, says HAL chief

Bengaluru: The crash of its Advance Light Helicopter (ALH) in Ecuador would not affect its export, defence public sector undertaking HAL said today. “Yes it is unfortunate that we had an accident of ALH at Ecuador. In spite of the negative publicity that the mishap is getting, the Ecuadorian Defense Minister has come in support of it,” HAL chairman T Suvarna Raju told reporters. [caption id=“attachment_460495” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A Dhruv helicopter. Reuters[/caption] The helicopter which crashed during a military parade on 28 October in the South American country, injuring two pilots, was considered a major setback to India’s efforts to market its indigenous helicopters overseas. Raju said the helicopters had not been flying because of the ongoing enquiry in the court of law. However, the ALH is a good product and has a good potential for exports. “These helicopters have not been flying because the court of enquiry is still on, and possibly it will be too premature to comment on the accident. However, ALH is a good product. We hope larger numbers would be given to us to manufacture and it has a good potential for export,” he said. The Ecuadorian Air Force, which bought five Dhruv ALHs from the Bangalore-headquartered HAL, had grounded the entire fleet till the probe it ordered into the mishap was completed. “ALH is absolutely and technically a very good platform. We don’t see any restrictions would affect our production of this helicopter,” he said. PTI