• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Ashwini Phadnis

NEW DELHI, March 5

THE Government is unlikely to announce any major changes to the existing rules for helicopter operations in India until the committee inquiring into the crash of the Deccan Aviation helicopter is completed.

Official sources told Business Line that while there was no question of compromising on the safety of the lives of passengers travelling by helicopters, the Government is unlikely to judge beforehand what steps could prevent such accidents.

"A committee has already been set up to look at the reasons for the crash. Let us wait for the report before taking any decision, which we feel may prevent such untoward incidents. If the investigating committee finds any serious lapses which it feels should be dealt with immediately, it can always come up with a preliminary report which the Government can consider implementing,'' officials said.

A Deccan Aviation Bell 206 helicopter had crashed at Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh last Sunday killing all the three passengers, including the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi. The Central Government has set up a three-member committee headed by the former Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Pawan Hans Helicopter Corporation, Lt. Gen. A. Natarajan, to investigate the incident.

Official sources also maintained that though the present rules for operation of small aircraft and helicopters were very stringent, the Government will not be averse to adding any additional security steps if they are suggested by the committee.

However, in the recent past, after almost every air accident there have been knee-jerk reactions demanding various steps to prevent such accidents. Officials maintained that while some of these steps have been implemented, they have been found to be incorrect once the inquiry committee report was submitted.

In this context, sources mentioned several instances including the decision to ground the entire Airbus A-320 fleet of Indian Airlines in 1990 after a crash of one of the aircraft in Bangalore. Although the decision was withdrawn later, it proved a big financial drain on the State-owned carrier.

While refusing to speculate on what may have been the reasons for the helicopter crash, official sources maintained that it would be wrong to pre-judge that the crash could have been avoided if the helicopter had two engines.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
Chopper crash a setback, says Deccan Aviation

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line