HAL Civil Aircraft Achieves Testing Milestone

BENGALURU: Defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Monday said it has successfully completed the ground run and low-speed taxi trials (LSTT) of the Hindustan-228 (VT-KNR) aircraft on Sunday for DGCA ‘type certification’.

“This is a major milestone for the first fixed-wing made-in-India civil aircraft in India. It is a step forward towards strengthening regional air connectivity”, Sajal Prakash, CEO of HAL’s Accessories Complex said in a statement.

Indranil Chakraborty, director, DGCA, was quoted as having said that the type certification will also enable HAL to get the international certification for the aircraft.

“The aircraft complies with the latest FAR 23 certification requirements,” HAL said, adding that its transport aircraft division in Kanpur has been in the business of transport and trainer aircraft for defence customers.

The division, HAL added, has ventured into the manufacturing of Hindustan-228 aircraft to support the regional connectivity scheme (UDAN) of the Centre and that this aircraft could be utilised successfully by civil operators and state governments for their intra and inter-state connectivity with seamless support towards training, maintenance and logistics.

“The Hindustan-228 is a 19-seat multirole utility aircraft built for various applications such as VIP transport, passenger transport, air ambulance, flight inspection roles, cloud seeding, and recreational activities like Para jumping, aerial surveillance, photography and cargo applications,” HAL said.

Source: ToI