DGCA to rope in external experts for certifying copter ops

Aviation regulator DGCA would avail the services of external experts for certifying helicopter operations to meet the shortage of the in-house skilled workforce for such tasks.
Stating that there is tremendous scope for the helicopter segment in the country particularly in the areas of tourism, disaster management, medical evacuation, policing and offshore operations, among others, Director General of Civil Aviation M Sathiyavathy also said that all the pending applications for the non scheduled operator's permit (NSOP) are expected to be cleared in the next 3-4 months.
"The growth in the number of registration of helicopters in the country has been stagnant in the last few years. In fact, a city like Sao Paulo has more number of choppers than the total helicopters registered in India," Sathiyavathy said at an international conference on general aviation organised by the national chopper operator Pawan Hans here today.

As against a total of 257 choppers registered with the DGCA on January 1, 2012, the number increases to 265 in 2013.
These numbers came down to 261 in 2014 and as on October 15 this year the total number of choppers registered with the DGCA stood at 280, she said.
She assured the industry of providing easier norms for the operations without compromising with the safety, adding, "we will perform the role of both a regulator and facilitator."

She, however, urged the chopper operators to provide their suggestions, which are put in the public domain prior to the finalisation of any norm or regulation.

"We generally don't receive comments from the operators whenever they are put on the DGCA website. But once we finalise them then they raise hue and cry. I will request you to go through the various draft circulars before we finalise them and then we may go for necessary amendments based on these suggestions," she said.
She lamented that most of the chopper operators flying to and from religious places such as Vaishno Devi and Kedarnath are "violating" norms, though they are not serious in nature and urged them to safety regulations.
Sathivathy also said that rules regarding air ambulance operations are likely to be finalised in the next one to two weeks.