Helicopters to get separate corridors for landing
New Delhi: After the recent security breach involving helicopters of President Pratibha Devisingh Patil’s entourage and a domestic aircraft, the Civil aviation ministry has decided to build separate corridors at airports for helicopter landing in four major cities, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.
Once these are operational, other cities and airports could also have such a facility. “The Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) had ordered an investigation into the incident under rule 77 and appointed the joint DGCA as the enquiry officer. After going through all the aspects and the movement of the helicopters, the ministry has decided to create separate corridors at least in four major metros to start with,” a senior civil aviation ministry official said. After these are operational other cities and airports could be looked at, he added.
There are about 240 helicopters in the country, most of which have been given out on long-term lease already. After the incident, the ministry had set up a committee to look into issues of helicopter security and their landing facility. The proposed corridors will bring in more security in aviation operations and save a lot of time for people who travel in these helicopters.
The initiative will also give a fillip to the helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) in these cities. The ministry has taken up this issue with the health ministry and also written to various hospital chains to start using HEMS now. India, which spends more than $ 46 billion annually on the health care segment, will get a boost with HEMS.
It will be designed to meet the aero medical needs of patient who need life support equipment, trained doctors, paramedics and drugs necessary to sustain life.
Indian Aviation 