Urging the ministry to audit helipads and passenger movement arrangements, it asked it to ensure that operational clearances are supported by current weather information and an effective safety risk assessment.
Mumbai: Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) on Monday recommended that the Civil Aviation Ministry commission an immediate safety review of all commercial helicopter operators in the hilly state of Uttarakhand, where a chopper crashed, killing six people last week.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the pilots’ body also sought a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu to present its recommendations for strengthening helicopter safety in the country.
The letter comes on the day helicopter operators suspended Char Dham charter service to protest against the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) rule making two pilots mandatory on every flight and the Authority calling another meeting on November 4 to end the stand-off after the first round of talks remained inconclusive.
Seeking a review of the operational status, aircraft serviceability and compliance records of operators engaged in pilgrimage services, FIP in the letter also emphasised the need to reassess weather minima, operating windows and route restrictions besides reviewing pilot experience and mountain-flying proficiency.
Urging the ministry to audit helipads and passenger movement arrangements, it asked it to ensure that operational clearances are supported by current weather information and an effective safety risk assessment.
The ministry should “review the adequacy of search-and-rescue facilities in remote valleys,” FIP said.
In the Himalayan states, helicopter services are often the only practical means of accessing remote locations and providing urgent assistance, the pilots’ body said, adding that offshore operations are essential to India’s energy infrastructure.
“It would therefore be neither practical nor desirable to discourage helicopter operations. What is required is to ensure that these operations are conducted with the highest standards of safety, professionalism and operational discipline,” it said.
Urging a collaborative approach to safer helicopter operations, FIP said it believes safety cannot be achieved merely through more regulations, additional paperwork, or restrictions imposed after accidents.
” It requires competent pilots, responsible operators, effective regulatory oversight, appropriate infrastructure and a collective commitment to learning from past occurrences,” it said, adding that the ultimate measure of an Aviation System is not the number of flights it operates, but its ability to ensure that every flight is completed safely.
“To date, in spite of our best efforts, we have never been given a hearing with the Minister of Civil Aviation,” the pilots’ body said.
“FIP would be pleased to contribute its professional experience, technical expertise and the collective knowledge of experienced pilots towards developing a practical and effective national helicopter safety framework,” FIP said in the letter.