Dhruv helicopter crash; HAL team in Ecuador

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has asked its team in Ecuador to look into the reasons behind the crash of a Dhruv helicopter during a military parade in Quito today in which two pilots were injured.

"Our team is stationed in Ecuador to support their Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) fleet and it is looking into the reasons behind the crash," HAL spokesperson Anantha Krishnan said over phone from Bengaluru.

"We don't have any further details of the incident," he added.

After the crash, Ecuadorian authorities grounded their fleet of the remaining six ALHs, a report from Ecuador said.

The chopper was destroyed in the accident and the crew members, who had trained in India, were injured, it added.

An ALH helicopter crashed before the start of the Aero India exhibition in 2007, killing  pilot.

Ecuador had procured seven ALHs from India and one of them was being used in their Presidential fleet also.

In 2005, Indian armed forces had grounded the ALH fleet after one of the choppers made a forced landing due to problems in its tail rotors.