Indian Coast Guard's helicopter crashes soon after takeoff, affected CIAL airport operations

Sources said the chopper, which was on a training flight, crashed as it began taking off from the helipad at 12.55 pm. As per preliminary reports, one person has a minor injury in his hand.

One person was injured when a Coast Guard helicopter on Sunday (March 26) crashed just after takeoff from its enclave at the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL).

Sources said the chopper, which was on a training flight, crashed as it began taking off from the helipad at 12.55 pm. As per preliminary reports, one person has a minor injury in his hand.

In a statement, the ICG said, "An incident of forced landing of an ALH Dhruv Mark 3 helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard today took place in Kochi while the pilots of the force were testing the chopper. The chopper was at around 25 feet height when it had to make a forced landing. The ICG is working towards resuming the operations of the ALH Dhruv fleet."

Meanwhile, CIAL said airport operations were suspended for two hours after the Advanced Light Helicopter of the Coast Guard met with the accident.

In a statement, the CIAL said, "The ALH was removed from the operational area around 2 PM and the runway has been cleared substantially after safety inspections, and flight operations have been resumed."

The Coast Guard Enclave is inside the CIAL complex. The reason for the accident is yet to be ascertained.