DGCA draft proposal seeks to make ops of choppers safer

The country’s aviation regulator has come up with a draft proposal to improve safety standards in helicopter operations, after a spate of accidents in the recent past.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked helicopter operators to submit their suggestions and objections to the draft proposal by July 11. One of the crucial recommendations in the draft is for the operators to “establish an aircraft tracking capability to track the helicopter throughout its area of operations”.

The draft states that the operators must refer to the US-based agency International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) circular 347 for “guidance”.

The ICAO circular 347 (for operators and civil aviation authorities), dated May 2014, is about a special meeting that was conducted on global flight tracking, after the loss of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. The meeting had discussed the need and means available to track all airline operations; the need for ICAO guidance on global aircraft tracking; and the potential for strengthening ICAO provisions.

Helicopter operators, however, said aircraft tracking devices could interfere with the existing digital and voice data recorders. Uday Gelli, president of Rotary Wing Society of India (RWSI), a non- profit society to aid growth of helicopters in India, said, “We are currently studying the ICAO circular, after which we will submit our comments.”