US Grounds Fleet of Chinook Helicopters Over Engine Fires, India Seeks Details

The choppers are extensively used by India for airlift operations in places like Ladakh and the Siachen glacier.

A Chinook helicopter. Image used for representational purposes only.

(Photo Courtesy: Boeing India)

The United States (US) Army has grounded its entire fleet of Chinook helicopters, which are also extensively used by India, over risks of engine fires, a report stated on Tuesday, 30 August.

India has around 15 CH-47 Chinook helicopters which, over the last few years, have been paramount for airlift operations, in areas like Ladakh and the Siachen glacier, to assist army personnel on the ground.

The US Army's decision comes after some engine fires were reported in the helicopters, which luckily did not lead to any deaths or injuries.

"One of the officials said that the fires occurred in recent days. The US Army Materiel Command grounded the fleet of hundreds of helicopters out of an abundance of caution," The Wall Street Journal said.

India Seeks Details About Grounding of Chinook Choppers

The US army is looking for more than 70 planes that had a part which was suspected to be related to the fires.

The US Army has around 400 Chinook helicopters in its fleet, and grounding these choppers could pose logistical problems for the country's defence forces.

Meanwhile, authorities in India said that they had sought details of the matter from their US counterparts, adding that their fleet of Chinook helicopters was still active.

"Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter fleet is still operational. India has sought details of the reasons which have led to the grounding of the entire fleet of the US Army’s Chinook CH-47 helicopters because of a risk of engine fires," an official said, as per ANI.

India had received its first batch of Chinook helicopters in February 2019.

(With inputs from ANI and The Wall Street Journal.)