By Rohit Vaid, IANS,
New Delhi: As bad weather and single engine aircrafts or choppers seem to make for a recipe for disaster, experts have called for regulating such flights in the wake of rise in accidents which have claimed lives of high-profile politicians and commoners.
“Bad weather is always one of the key factors due to which single engine aircrafts plunge from sky,” a senior Delhi Air Traffic Control (ATC) official told IANS after Wednesday night crash of an air ambulance in the national capital’s suburb of Faridabad.
According to the official with the navigation and surveillance arm of the ATC, such incidents have time and again highlighted the risk of operating single engine aircrafts or helicopters in bad weather conditions.
The cry once again against single engine planes has been spurred by the crash of the air ambulance Wednesday night into a house in Faridabad, which killed all the seven on board and three people on ground.
According to eye witnesses, the plane spiralled down and crashed in a densely populated area. The aircraft, according to the ATC official, went off the radar at 8,000 feet while descending and was only 12 minutes away from landing at the IGI Airport here.
“The weather yesterday included very high wind situation, the temperature variation was also recorded. All these factors have a bearing on the plane’s weight. Now while descending to ground, even a light push by the wind on tail-end can spiral the plane down.”
The Swiss-made aircraft PT-12/45 was specifically modified to carry patients and medical equipment. Manufactured in 2005, it was commissioned by Delhi-based Air Charter Services India Pvt. Ltd. which operates three such planes.
Single engine aircrafts or choppers are very common and popular in India, and used by private charter companies as well as state-owned Pawan Hans Helicopter Ltd.
“Weight coupled with power and a back-up engine option are vital safety features that an aircraft or chopper should have,” global aviation expert Erwin Stolpe, who specialises in Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) sector, told IANS.
Single engine planes are light weight, have low power and obviously have nothing to bank on once the engine conks off.
Stolpe, however, said that such aircraft still remain popular, even in the US and the European Union, as they are more economical to operate and maintain.
Agrees V.Krishnan, chief executive of OSS Air Services, who plans to use helicopters to ferry patients.
“These are surely in demand as they are very economical and can be easily modified for carrying life saving equipment,” Krishnan said while adding that Wednesday’s crash would not affect the growing air ambulance sector.
“This may be the first of its kind instance. The air ambulances are very critical in saving lives and there can be a huge demand for it in the future,” he told IANS.
“The aircraft was a modified one, that means the pilot and the operator knew of its power and as it was in operation, that means every thing was calculated, including weight power and all.”
But opponents of single-engine aircraft or choppers take the examples of recent accidents which claimed the life of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu earlier this month and Andra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.R Reddy in late 2009.
Both the chief ministers were travelling on a single-engine chopper through rough weather conditions.
However, one of the world’s largest chopper and sea planes operator Pawan Hans Helicopter Ltd., which had earlier in the month lost two choppers in the Arunachal sector, reaffirmed its faith in the single engine chopper and aircraft claiming these to have a impeccable safety record.
“If you see the statistics, that most of the accidents occur due to pilot’s error or weather conditions, the technical aspect of a crash is the least in these particular cases. Single engine choppers are as safe as any,” said Sanjeev Razdan, Pawan Hans deputy general manager, engineering division.
Razdan also said that modern engine designs guaranteed more power and increased safety, but added that weather conditions and route planning for any contingency landing should be factored in before a flight is undertaken.
(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at [email protected])