Fickle weather, inadequate sector specific training among factors behind spate of helicopter accidents

An overburdened aviation infrastructure and the absence of a centralised supervisory authority on the ground to monitor the movement of helicopters are the other issues cited by the pilot.

Dehradun: Fickle weather conditions and inadequacy of sector-specific training among pilots are among the variety of factors responsible for the alarming rise in the frequency of air accidents in the Char Dham area, according to a pilot with extensive experience of flying in the region.

An overburdened aviation infrastructure and the absence of a centralised supervisory authority on the ground to monitor the movement of helicopters are the other issues cited by him.

An Aryan Aviation Pvt Ltd.'s chopper with seven on board crashed and caught fire on Sunday while returning from Kedarnath over the forests of Gaurikund killing all passengers including pilgrims, the pilot and a 23-month old toddler.

It was the fifth air accident involving a helicopter on the route within one and a half months since the start of the Char Dham yatra on April 30 this year.

"The Char Dham sector is the most challenging because of its uncertain weather conditions that keep changing in the blinking of an eye, high altitudes and narrow valleys.

"Still this rate of chopper accidents- five in 45 days- is simply not acceptable," said the pilot who has around 15 years of experience in flying, initially with the aviation wing of the Army and later with a private heli operator firm.

Pilots are vastly experienced but do not have enough sector-specific training in flying along with an instructor before being launched as single pilots or captains on the treacherous route, he said.

The DGCA's laid-down parameters for sector-specific training are less considering the challenges a pilot might face while flying in the Char Dham Sector which is much more complex than the Amarnath sector, said the pilot who has worked for three years in the Char Dham sector.

"The weather in the Char Dham sector is changing too quickly, the altitudes are high and the valleys are too narrow. Flying in conditions like this requires a high degree of sector-specific training under a highly trained instructor which is often not the case," said the pilot, who did not wish to be named.

Citing the example of the crashed Bell 407 helicopter pilot Rajveer Singh Chouhan, he said though an military veteran and an experienced helicopter flyer, he was new to both commercial aviation and the Char Dham sector.

Calling for a major revision of the DGCA SOP for helicopter operations in the sector, he said a pilot flying choppers on the tricky Chardham route should have at least 50 hours training in flying in the sector with a competent flying operations instructor approved by the DGCA.

Pilots working for private heli operators are under pressure sometimes because of the commercial considerations of the flying firms they work for, he said.

There must also be a cap on the number of sorties to be undertaken by a pilot in a day so that they can have enough rest.

Commercial considerations should not be allowed to outweigh norms of public or passenger safety which is paramount, he said.

Talking about overburdened flying infrastructure in the Char Dham sector, he said there are two helipads in Kedarnath, one for shuttle choppers and the other reserved for VIP movement. The latter is underutilised while the former is overused.

"My suggestion is to divide the load equally between both helipads at least on days when there is no VIP movement and build a large helipad in Guptkashi like the one at Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun to handle the volume. The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority should spend more on infrastructure building," he said.

Automatic weather stations should also be installed at all four Himalayan temples of the Char Dham pilgrimage to help pilots negotiate through bad weather, he said.

He also suggested that there should be a gap of at least half an hour between the switch-off and take-off time of a helicopter.

They should be allowed to start sorties half an hour after sunrise and make their last landing half an hour before sunset, he said.

He strongly pitched for careful selection through a stricter bidding process of heli firms for operating on the Char Dham sector so that only the deserving ones get the opportunity and the airspace on the route is not overcrowded.

There are 8-9 heli companies engaged for shuttle service and more than 15 for chartered chopper service on the route, he said adding that this number should be curtailed.

He even suggested increasing the ticket price for heli services to the Himalayan temples to ease the load on choppers and the existing air infrastructure in the sector.

A control and command centre that monitors the movement of helicopters on the route and acts sternly against violations is also necessary, he said.

Neither the pilots nor the heli companies they work for should fly in bad weather, he said.

"Even birds which are born to fly do not go against the weather. They wait for the weather to improve before resuming their flight. We should learn from them and stay safe," he said.

After the Sunday crash, the Civil Aviation Ministry said it has suspended the operations of Aryan Aviation for the Char Dham Yatra and has directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to immediately post officers from airworthiness, safety and operations to actively oversee all helicopter activity in the Kedarnath Valley.

It also suspended the licences of two pilots of TransBharat Aviation for six months as their choppers were found to have been airborne under similar unsuitable weather conditions.

The ministry said asked the DGCA to rigorously review the functioning of the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) command-and-control room.