The Hindu Business Line : Flight safety: When will we ever learn?

Aviation safety
demands that we learn from experience. Unless a definite programme of adhering to safety and updated technology is put in place, we may only see more such
tragic events.

A. Ranganathan

Political demises in air crashes seem to take place with sickening regularity and our aviation system may have got the biggest jolt with the accident that took the life of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, and four others.

The Bell 430 helicopter proceeded from Hyderabad on a southerly direction, heading towards Chittoor. The weather report indicated that the route was covered with heavy thunderstorm activity.

Yet, the Chief Minister insisted on proceeding with the flight to meet his final destiny. Why do politicians think they know the weather better than pilots? Why do pilots, who should have been in command, give in to pressure? Will we ever learn from these mishaps?

In 1995, an aircraft carrying the Governor of Punjab, Surendra Nath, crashed into the mountains at Kumrunag, killing all 13 persons on board. The flight conditions were rain and poor visibility in the mountainous region.

On September 30, 2001, the former Civil Aviation Minister and senior Congressman, Madhavrao Scindia, died with all on board when his aircraft crashed on the way to Kanpur. Mr Scindia had insisted on the flight proceeding in inclement weather to address a political rally.

On March 3, 2002, the Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam Party leader, G. M. C. Balayogi, died when his helicopter crashed into a pond while trying to land in heavy rain.

On March 31, 2005, the Haryana ministers, O. P. Jindal, also a noted industrialist, and Mr Surendra Singh were killed when the chopper carrying them went down near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Aviation safety demands that we learn from experience. Unless a definite programme of safety is put in place, we are going to see more and more of such fatal accidents.

The helicopter carrying the AP Chief Minister and his party was reported to have been sighted near Kurnool and proceeding towards the Ongole district. This indicated that the pilot was deviating to the left to avoid heavy thunderstorm clouds in the area. The mangled and burnt remains of the helicopter and the five occupants were discovered on the slopes of a hill 70 km east of Kurnool, which is well left of the helicopter’s intended flight-path.

Deadly deviations

We are in the south-west monsoon season, when the lower level winds are from the west or south-west. Any thunderstorm cloud would have been moving east. The helicopter was proceeding from north to south. The worst area to deviate is to the left (east of the flight path) where the downdrafts and turbulence will be at its maximum. The correct way to deviate is to the right (west of the intended flight path) where the conditions would have been more stable.

In all the investigations into helicopter accidents, one common feature reported is the tendency of the pilot to duck down to keep the ground in sight. If the pilot of this helicopter had descended to keep the ground in sight and deviated to the left because of the heavy thunderstorms, he was a sitting duck for the classic “controlled flight into terrain” eventuality.

The regulator has to do some soul-searching and come out with definite regulations to prevent any such occurrences in the future . All helicopter flights have been to uncontrolled destinations. The flight should have been cleared only under the Visual Flight Rules (VFR) conditions. The VFR require a minimum of 5km of visibility and to keep clear of clouds. If these flights had taken place in VFR, all the accidents could have been prevented.

The mix and match of Instrument Flight Rules and Visual Flight Rules is bound to result in accidents. Even the recent near disaster involving the President’s helicopter could have been avoided had the flight followed VFR protocols. Instead, the flight was conducted under special VFR, which permit operations in visibility of 2,500 metres.

Enforce regulations

Pilots operating private aircraft and helicopters need to update their safety training regularly. We need a system in place to provide them with the same kind of facility that airline pilots have. They also need some strong regulations to indicate that they are in command of an aircraft or a helicopter, irrespective of the rank of the passenger. Unless we have that in place, we are likely to see more such tragedies.

The pilots operating in the “General Aviation” category are not exposed to the kind of training and weather conditions that airline pilots experience. Their proficiency monitoring by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) inspectors is also questionable.

The safety audit of the various private operators as well as the quasi-private operations, namely, the State government operators, has to be strengthened. Conceding safety standards to political pressures is a recipe for disaster.

The present accident throws up another glaring deficiency in the regulator’s cupboard. The media exposure of the expiry of the Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA) for the helicopter has shaken everyone. However, the DGCA clarified that the CofA was valid and the error was on the DGCA’s Web page, which had not been updated for two years! Aviation is a fast moving subject. In the modern IT era, to find an important Web site having outdated data is a sad reflection on our commitment to safety.

A complete revamp of our safety culture is required on an urgent basis. The political class should also be educated on the need to let trained pilots take the decisions on when and where to fly. They may have the acumen for politics but they do not possess the professional knowledge or training that an experienced pilot has.

(The author is an airline captain with over 35 years flying experience. blfeedback@thehindu.co.in)