While the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) aims to increase the country’s helicopter fleet by four times in the next 15 years, the helicopter operators across the country have raised multiple issues strangulating the sector’s operations, safety and expansion. Stakeholders of the helicopter and small aircraft sector highlighted the lack of navigation services, trained pilots and a conducive environment.
The Free Press Journal reported on Tuesday that the civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu announced that the ministry aims at increasing the country’s fleet to over 1,000 helicopters in the next 10 to 15 years. This will be a four-fold increase over the current fleet size of over 250 helicopters in the country.
However, the helicopter and small aircraft sector in the country is struggling with multiple issues that are obstructing its growth. At the 7th Helicopter and Small Aircraft Summit organised in Pune on Tuesday, the helicopter manufacturers, operators and associations shared their concerns with MoCA as well as the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Reforms were suggested to solve the issues related to the available infrastructure to operate helicopters, challenges with navigation services and lack of skilled manpower to fly these aircraft.
Wing Commander Subash P John (Retd.), chief test pilot with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, raised concerns regarding the challenges faced by the pilots specifically while flying in the hilly terrains of northern India. “In high altitude terrain with steep valleys, the weather is also unpredictable. The weather changes suddenly and during that time, the decision lies with the captain while he is ill-equipped with all the data necessary to safely reach the destination in such a situation,” he said.
He added that the helicopter sector needs to be strengthened on the four pillars of safety including innovative technology to help these operations in challenging terrains, regulation processes, training of pilots and planning of maneuvering in these terrains.
After curtailing the helicopter operations for the Chardham Yatra pilgrimage, the ministry is looking at options for enhanced surveillance and innovative air traffic management and processing of weather data to help the helicopters fly safely in hilly regions. As more than 3 lakh people perform the Chardham Yatra pilgrimage annually through helicopters, which are not guided by the air traffic control, the ministry aims to come up with innovative solutions by September to enhance safety with increased operations.
Air Commodore BS Krishna Kumar (Retd.), vice president of Thumby Aviation, which operates helicopter services including Chardham Yatra, suggested that the ministry should focus on providing air traffic control and meteorological coverage to helicopters, especially after the Kedarnath helicopter crash on June 15, which killed all seven onboard including the pilot. He also highlighted that the country does not have enough helicopter pilots for expansion of operations.
“The growth rate of helicopter services in India is abysmally slow with poor commercial prospects. There is an inadequate pool of pilots and therefore we need more flying training organisations in the country to bring more young pilots to the sector. More conducive environment is needed to exploit the unique capabilities of helicopters by defining new roles,” Kumar said.
Wing Commander Prem Kumar Garg (Retd.), CEO of IndiaOne Air, suggested that shortage for small aircraft pilots can be solved if there is a flying-time eligibility for commercial pilot license (CPL) holders. “Only in India, pilots with CPL are directly allowed to fly narrow-body aircraft. They should be mandated to complete a particular flying hours on small aircraft before being allowed to fly larger aircraft.
