Even in bad weather, pilots under VVIP pressure to fly
NEW DELHI: Last month, a chopper pilot
refused to fly the chief minister of a north Indian state because of bad weather. The fuming CM complained
to the company the chopper was hired from and the pilot was transferred...
Andhra CM YSR Reddy lost his life when his chopper ran into rough weather and then crashed. Now, the DGCA is investigating whether the local Met office gave proper weather report before the VVIP flight, based on which the pilots should have decided to operate the flight. But irrespective of the met report, there have been several cases in the past where pilots have had to fly — irrespective of the forecast — because saying no to a CM or other top dignitaries of the state is not an easy option.
The problem, say industry veterans, is more severe in state government-owned choppers where pilots are employed by the state. Reason: saying no to the CM or other dignitaries may cost them their job.
Apart from VVIPs forcing chopper or small aircraft flights in bad weather, point out industry insiders, there have been many cases where pilots have also wrongly overestimated their choppers' weather handling capacity. A famous case in point is a chopper pilot with a north Indian hill state who took off twice in adverse weather conditions, carrying top VVIPs. "He was then preferred by VVIPs to fly them because he would rarely say no, citing bad weather. Unfortunately, the third flight he took in bad weather proved to be his last," said a senior official.
DGCA sources point out they regularly issue instructions to pilots to not fly under under VVIP or management pressure. But the biggest problem is that India does not have mandatory simulator training of chopper pilots to fly on visual flight range (VFR) on a regular basis. Under VFR, pilots fly with the ground always in sight. The other option is flying with instrument flying range (IFR) in which pilots depend on aids within the cockpit.
Meanwhile, the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the Bell 430 that crashed, killing four including the Andhra CM, has been located. The CVR will now be brought to Delhi.
"If it is not in a damaged condition, the same will be opened here itself and the recording heard. If it's damaged, it will have to be dismantled and the chip sent to the manufacturer, Bell, for being read," said sources.
Source:: Times OF India
