The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on June 05, 2026, seeks comments on Draft Proposed Airworthiness Directive (PAD): 26-001 on Advanced Light Helicopters (Dhruv).
The Airworthiness Directive (AD) applies to all civil variants of Advanced Light Helicopters (Dhruv) manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It mandates corrective action related to the tail rotor drive system, specifically the Tail Drive Shaft (TDS) segments 3, 3A, and 4.
The directive has been issued after an incident where damaged components, including a missing elastomeric bush and a broken bearing attachment bracket, were detected during maintenance. This raised safety concerns regarding the integrity of the tail rotor drive system.
To address the issue, operators are required to replace the outsourced elastomeric bushes with in-house manufactured elastomeric bushes in the specified TDS segments. This replacement must be carried out in accordance with the relevant Alert Service Bulletin within two weeks of its receipt.
The directive is effective immediately and is mandatory for all applicable helicopters in operation. Operators must submit a compliance certificate upon completion of the required action to the concerned authority, ensuring restoration and maintenance of airworthiness and safety standards.
[PAD No : 26-001]
