Aviation ministry mulls ‘Helicopter Mission’ to fuel growth

NEW DELHI, Aug 20,2008: Realizing the potential shown by civilian helicopter operations across the country, the government today said the civil aviation ministry will soon set up a "helicopter mission" to coordinate chopper operations and to thrash out issues concerning the industry. "We (the government) plan to set up a helicopter mission, a coordinating mechanism in the ministry under a joint secretary, where all the stakeholders will come together and address issues to find a dynamic solution to take forward civilian helicopter operations in the country," Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla said. The "helicopter mission" would coordinate the well-orchestrated growth plans and aspects of the civilian chopper industry, Chawla said at a daylong national seminar on Helicopter Emergency Medical Services and Development of Heliports here. "It is very important to have a coordinated approach to improve the present civilian helicopter services and increase the number of helicopters in service from the present 118 to 1500 helicopters by 2015. We are sure this growth in the civilian chopper will be happen," he said. Chawla also announced that the government would set up a heliport in Delhi for which land had been identified in Rohini, apart from exploring the option of having another heliport along the DND Flyover that connects the national capital and Noida. Pointing out that there were two important impediments in the growth of the civilian helicopter services, Chawla said safety and human resources were the prime concerns today. "As far as safety is concerned, there can be no compromise, just as it is so in the normal scheduled and non-scheduled passenger aviation operations. It will be more so in the helicopter industry, due to the difficult terrain, time and operations that they carry out," he said. Chawla said the ministry was sure that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was aware of the safety aspects of chopper operations and was taking concrete measures in this regard. Also, there was a demand for having a separate helicopter corridor if the operations were to be extended and increased in the desired direction, he said. The second impediment, Chawla said, was the lack of human resources in the chopper industry, particularly pilots. However, to increase manpower to operate the rotatory wing flying machines, the government proposed to introduce a capsule course in helicopter flying at an institute being set up in Maharashtara. "It is unfortunate that India does not have a separate training facility for helicopter pilots. The capsule course to be introduced will meet the demands, I hope," Chawla added. Stating that the last four years have witnessed a substantial surge in scheduled and nonscheduled passenger operations, the Secretary said the annual compounded growth rate had been of the order of 25 per cent plus. "But India has not yet witnessed a corresponding growth or development in the helicopter services. This seminar and future programmes focussing on helicopter operations are aimed at giving an impetus to the sector," he noted. (PTI)