Chhattisgarh CM flies police chopper, pilots suspended over security breach

Helicopters meant for police inspection in Naxalite areas of the state

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Chhattisgarh used the helicopter services, meant for police inspection in Naxalite areas of the state, to ferry chief minister Raman Singh.

In fact, by doing so, Singh endangered his own life as the pilots flying the helicopter breached the security norms, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) found during a recent surprise check, sources said.

The DGCA has suspended one of the two pilots for violating flying safety norms related to helicopter engine and pre-flight medical tests.

The state government had signed a contract with operator King Routers to fly Bell 407 helicopters in Nalaxite region which stated that the Chhattisgarh government will use the chopper services only for supporting police action.

However, in a surprise check by DGCA officials on October 8, it came to the light that the helicopters were used to ferry Singh within the state.

The DGCA is yet to escertain whether Singh had used the helicopter for private or official purposes. The aviation regulator has summoned the head of the state's civil aviation department and the helicopter company, sources added.

It was also found that two pilots flew Singh in contravention of Ministry of Home Affairs and DGCA guidelines, DGCA sources said.
It requires a VVIP personnel to be flown only in helicopters with twin engine accompanying two pilots. However, it was found that helicopter ferrying Singh only had a single engine, sources said.

The DGCA also observed that the pilots had forged the signature of the doctor to clear the pre-flight medical examination on February 17 (Nagpur-Aurangabad route) and February 18 (Aurangabad-Juhu route).

“When the doctor was contacted, he stated in writing that he hadn't signed the document and his signature was forged,” said another DGCA official.