In operation for at least four decades, the last one-and-a-half months are proving not to be a good time for Boeing’s US-made AH-64 Apache heavy attack helicopter.
On April 3, an Indian Air Force (IAF) Apache helicopter on a routine sortie in Ladakh had to make an emergency landing at a spot situated at about 12,000 feet near the Khardungla pass.
An IAF source told THE WEEK that the ill-fated helicopter suffered a ‘technical malfunction’, which is being looked into by a Court of Inquiry.
“We are looking into whether it can be repaired at the landing site and flown back to base, or to be carried back in an ‘under-slung’ operation by a Chinook heavy lift helicopter or has to be dismantled and carried part by part back to base,” the source added.
Reports indicated that the helicopter may have suddenly encountered a ‘loss of power’.
The IAF operates 22 Apaches helicopters that were bought after a 2015 military India-US agreement. The Indian Army had ordered six more in 2020.
But what is interesting is that in just 44 days, the US Army has suffered four losses underlining safety concerns.
The incidents took place on February 12, February 23 (when both pilots were killed), on March 24 and then on March 26.
The March 24 incident happened at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington State, where two pilots suffered injuries, while the March 26 incident occurred at Fort Carson, Colorado, when the helicopter went down during training, injuring its pilots.
Currently, about 700 Apache helicopters are in operation with the US military.
In 2023, the US Army is reported to have alluded to a significant increase in the failures of electrical power generators in the Apache.
