Following Jan 5 crash, entire fleet of 330 copters across the armed forces has been grounded

Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service

The indigenously made advanced light helicopter (ALH) will not be part of the Republic Day flypast this year as the entire fleet of 330 copters across the armed forces has been grounded following the crash of an Indian Coast Guard ALH on January 5 at Porbandar, Gujarat.

The ALH and its multiple variants have been part of Republic day flypasts for over 15 years. The copter is showcased as a prime indigenous platform. The ALH is part of the fleet of IAF, Navy, Army and Coast Guard. Several civilian operators too fly it.

The IAF will conduct its customary flypast over the Kartavya Path in New Delhi on January 26. The flypast will comprise 22 fighter jets, 11 transport planes, seven copters and also three Dornier surveillance planes of Coast Guard. The flypast shall also not include the indigenous fighter jet, the Tejas. The jet is a single-engine platform and IAF stopped flying single engine jets in the Republic day flypast many years ago.

The flypast will be in two separate phases. The Mi17 helicopters carrying the national flag will be part of the commencement of the parade. A formation of the MiG 29 will fly overhead when the IAF marching contingent of 144 personnel is on the parade route.

The second phase of the flypast will mark the culmination of the parade. The first formation will be of Apache attack helicopters, followed by transport planes and An32 and two Dorniers.

The transport plane C17, the surveillance plane ‘Netra’ will be part of the flypast. A formation of Jaguar fighter jets and Sukhoi 30MKIs will follow. The Sukhoi pilots will do the ‘Trishul manoeuvre’ — three Sukhoi jets will split in three different directions over the Kartavya Path.

A formation of six Rafale jets will follow. A single Rafale jet will culminate the parade with a striking manoeuvre called the ‘vertical charlie’ – the jet while flying horizontally will change its trajectory and fly straight in the air vertically.