captchopper
1st May 2011, 17:47
The Indian Helicopter Industry had not completely come out of a helicopter crash where the country lost a very popular Chief Minister in a Bell 430 on Sept 2,2009. And now a B-3 is missing with another Chief Minister. Hoping it doesn't get as bad. Thoughts are with the people missing..
Worst feared as Arunachal Pradesh chief minister goes missing after copter crash - The Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-trace-of-Arunachal-CM-ISRO-roped-in-to-trace-chopper/articleshow/8129607.cms)
This is the second Helicopter News that is flooding the Local Media after the most recent Mi-172 crash on 19 April 2011 in the same area. For guys flying in India, the industry can't take any more losses!
http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/449226-helicopter-crash-india-17-board-killed.html
Sikkim: Four Armymen killed in helicopter crash - India News - IBNLive (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/sikkim-four-armymen-killed-in-helicopter-crash/149906-3.html)
Chopper crashes at Chandigarh airport, 2 pilots injured (http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/chopper-crashes-at-chandigarh-airport-2-pilots-injured-72896)
Army chopper crashes in Nagaland, 3 officers perish - Times Of India (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-08-19/india/28310606_1_army-chopper-crashes-helicopter-accidents-vishwema)
prehar
4th May 2011, 19:16
Well , the latest news on various Indian TV channels show that this crash site has been located and all the pax including the CM are dead .Wonder if it was technical failure or bad weather that took its toll ??!!
griffothefog
4th May 2011, 23:22
Possibly the most difficult thing about Indian pilots and their culture is to learn how to say NO....:=
spinwing
5th May 2011, 04:24
Mmmmm ....
...... What is wrong in India??? ..... Now just where and how would you like us to start answering it?
The issue is as griffo infers a cultural one .... I have had the luck to work with some really professional, knowledgable and skillful Indian pilots .... pilots that I would be happy to go and do almost any task with ... BUT ... in my view the 'pressures' that are often put on these chaps while working in/on the subcontinent by their management is the reason many of these incidents occur.
Yes there is corruption in decision making, yes there is a different way of thinking (much of which could be overcome by better rules enforcement by
DGCA) or even actually paying attention to and taking seriously CRM rather than do it 'lip service'. This of course can be said about quite a few countries on this planet.
Let us be careful in which direction this thread goes eh? :ooh:
;)
DGCA suspends Pawan Hans helicopter services across NE - The Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/DGCA-suspends-Pawan-Hans-helicopter-services-across-NE/articleshow/8173754.cms)
GUWAHATI: The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has finally suspended commercial operations of Pawan Hans (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Pawan%20Hans) helicopters across the northeastern region, a move which came only after Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Dorjee-Khandu) died in a chopper crash off Se La Pass in Tawang district on Saturday.
On April 19, a Pawan Hans MI-172 helicopter crashed at Naharlagun, killing 17 people on board. But the DGCA (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=DGCA) action suspending chopper services came after 11 days when the next tragedy struck - this time killing the chief minister himself.
Captain Mahal, deputy general manager (operations) of Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited, said, "Yes, our operations in the northeast have been suspended following the mishap in which the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister died. The DGCA is carrying out checks and reviewss of our choppers deployed in the region. Various teams have been formed to carry out checks and I cannot relay how long this process would take."
Sources in the Arunachal Pradesh civil aviation department said the chief minister was always using a twin- engine chopper from the available fleet in the state. It was the first time that Khandu was allocated a single-engine helicopter exclusively for his use that ultimately crashed.
Pawan Hans authorities said Khandu's chopper was a new one and was given on lease to the Arunachal Pradesh government on December 5, 2010. "The brand new helicopter was acquired in mid-2010. Till date, the helicopter has flown 306 hours and done 577 landings. It has done most of the flying in the northeast," said deputy general manager (engineering) Sanjeev Razdan in a statement.
Mahal said the DGCA, among other things, would look into what went wrong with the emergency locator transmitter (ELT). "The helicopter, with the chief minister on board, was fitted with the latest ELT, which transmits signals on heavy impact. These can be picked by ISRO satellites and any other aircraft flying over it. This equipment is basically to locate the chopper in case a mishap takes place. The ELT is activated automatically and since no signals were picked up by satellites, it could be that the ELT did not activate and this is what which should be looked into," he said.
Pawan Hans started operations in the region in 1989 to connect inaccessible areas in various states. Besides Arunachal Pradesh, it operates flights to Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland and also to MHA in Guwahati. While Meghalaya suspended operations of the company after Khandu's chopper went missing on April 30, the Tripura government is in the process of replacing the single-engine choppers with those having dual engines.
Pawan Hans authorities said the company has deployed Dauphin N, Mi-172, Bell 206L4, Bell 407 and Dauphin N3 helicopters in these states. According to Mahal, the helicopters are maintained as per the programme recommended by the manufacturer and approved by the DGCA. "Since the inception of helicopter service, all maintenance checks were carried out in accordance with the stipulated guidelines and the last 100 hours of mandatory inspection was carried out on April 10 . The DGCA has been satisfied with the maintenance programme and had issued certificate of airworthiness of this helicopter on July 2, 2010, which is valid up to July 20, 2015."
Razdan said, "Operating in this sector requires a high degree of professionalism and experience in flying helicopters in tough terrains. The weather is always a major challenge. In the last six years, we have ferried 1.5 lakh passengers and done 30,000-plus landings, connecting remote areas of the northeast. This has also led to economic development in the region."
Regards
Aser