All 3 onboard Coast Guard’s helicopter die after aircraft crash-lands at Gujarat airport

A helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard crashed in Porbandar, Gujarat on Sunday, killing all three crew members onboard. The crash comes four months after another helicopter of the force crashed in the Arabian Sea.

According to officials, the crash occurred while the helicopter was trying to land at an airport on the outskirts of Porbandar. Porbandar Superintendent of Police Bhagirathsinh Jadeja said, “The incident took place at 12.10pm, when the Coast Guard's Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), which was returning from a routine sortie, crashed while trying to land on the runway of the Coast Guard airport.”

The SP said the helicopter crashed near the runway while trying to land and the aircraft caught fire. Fire tenders rushed to the crash site and doused the fire. According to police, all three crew members onboard succumbed to the burn injuries.

“The three crew members onboard were brought out of the chopper and rushed to a hospital in Porbandar in a severely burnt condition. While two of them were declared brought dead, one was alive when brought to the hospital and died later," police said. The identities of the crew members are yet to be ascertained.

The Coast Guard has launched an inquiry into the incident. The incident comes four months after the force’s ALH MK-III helicopter crashed into the Arabian Sea off Porbandar on September 2 last year. All three members onboard died in the accident. While the bodies of two members were recovered within days after the accident, the body of the third crew member was recovered after a month-long search.