Flights into Danger

FLIGHTS INTO DANGER

The death of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and four others in a helicopter crash this week has raised fears about the standards of helicopter safety in the country, given that copters are becoming indispensable to both corporates and the political class. There have been 54 copter crashes in the past two decades in the country, with eight of them in 2007 alone. The death toll is shooting up. Another copter crash — again in Andhra Pradesh in 2008 — claimed four lives.
The copter flying the Chief Minister that crashed in the Nallamalla forests was an 11-year-old Bell-430 helicopter equipped with modern communication systems (including high frequency). The fatal accident seems to have been caused by bad weather near Kurnool. Now come the crucial questions. Did the helicopter crew obtain the vital meteorological briefing before departure from the old Hyderabad Begumpet airport? Did the meteorological duty officer prepare a meteorological folder (that details weather patterns at different altitudes) for the crew? If so, did the crew heed the meteorological warnings? Why did the pilot not turn back when the helicopter faced bad weather en route? Was there a significant deviation from the flight path? Why did the helicopter descend below the minimum safe altitude and collide with the hillock?
ATC sources say that it was only after the helicopter had travelled 80 nautical miles from Hyderabad, that it encountered bad weather, which is why meteorological briefings are crucial. But experts say it is in the very nature of helicopter flying in India that such accidents occur, due to various reasons such as failure to follow regulations and due procedures and inadequate monitoring.
Aviation experts like Air Vice-Marshal (retd.) K. Sridharan, president of the Rotary Wing Society of India (RWSI), ask whether it is “the fear of long and tedious procedure that the pilot may have to undergo by the regulator (DGCA) to justify his action to land at an unrecognised place?” and whether “the regulator can take measures to instil confidence in the pilots that there will be no retribution in case a pilot does a precautionary landing at the nearest available site for safety reasons?”
Air Vice-Marshal (Retd) Sridharan further points out, “Pilots often complain about the lack of terrain maps for civil flying in India. A million maps which are available for use by military aviators cannot be used outside the military since it is a restricted document. Lack of such basic aids do deny diligent pre flight planning.”
Experts point out that had lessons from the past been learnt, the helicopter crash and Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s death could have been averted. On August 3, 2008, another Bell-430 helicopter had crashed near Venkatpuram in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh in which all four on board were killed.
The DGCA, in its enquiry report on the August 3, 2008, crash came to certain startling conclusions. No meteorological briefing had been obtained by the crew prior to departure. The weather en route was bad and the crew was descending the helicopter. The helicopter descended below the minimum safe altitude due to presence of bad weather and collided with the hill en route. There was heavy rainfall in the area at the time of the crash.
“The bad weather and crash into a hillock in dense forests make comparisons with the Venkatpuram crash inevitable,” says Air Vice-Marshal Sridharan. The helicopter carrying the Andhra Pradesh chief minister faced bad weather, including heavy rain, near Kurnool. The helicopter was originally flying at an altitude of 5,500 feet but seems to have descended to about 3,100 feet which was the height at which it slammed into the hillock. Another similarity was that the Emergency Location Transmitter (ELT) did not function in both cases.
“Most of the accidents take place when the visibility deteriorates and the helicopter pilot ceases to operate as per the visual flight rules (VFR)and begins to rely on the instrumentation meteorological conditions (often referred to as blind flying) wherein pilots fly primarily with reference to instruments, and therefore under Instrument Flight rules (IFR),” said an aviation expert.
Helicopters are also vulnerable since they often land in remote areas that are outside the communication zones of air traffic control.
Another aspect that has been highlighted by aviation experts is that often, the helicopter pilots of VIP flights feel immense pressure not to turn back (even in case of bad weather) because of pressure exerted by the VIP.
Former director general of civil aviation Kanu Gohain points out that the DGCA has been taking several steps to strictly monitor helicopter maintenance by operators.
Another effort is the issuing of guidelines last year for operation of small aircraft/helicopters carrying VIPs. One crucial advice handed out in that circular last year was that “prior to takeoff, the crew should ascertain prevailing weather conditions from the district authorities at the intended place of landing”. Whether that advice was followed in this case is now anybody’s guess and one of the probable subjects of an investigation by a four-member enquiry committee set up by the government.
Currently, there are about 250 civilian helicopters operating in the country which includes 26 helicopters with private operators, 183 helicopters with commercial operators, and about 29 helicopters operated by various state governments.
The safety measures recommended by experts include “increased vigilance by the regulator (DGCA) in terms of audit/surveillance check of small operators (that) needs to be laid down, verification through audits of proficiency monitoring checks on pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers, strong action against rule-breakers among helicopter operators, prevention of accidents in case of loss of visibility caused by pilots moving from visual flight rules (VFR) to instrument meteorological conditions, conducting of more special VFR capsules for pilots, and increased use of simulator-based training”.
Perhaps sensing that a lot more needs to be done, the United States recently awarded a $5 lakhs technical assistance grant to the DGCA “to help update India‘s standards and regulations governing helicopter operations and facilitate the expansion of safe and reliable helicopter services throughout India”. It’s something that the DGCA — which is battling severe staff shortages — needs to focus on.
HELICOPTER FLIGHTS INTO DANGERS