Pawan Hans equips copters with latest technology

"We assure that we will take utmost care in the safety of passengers as this is our prime priority," PHHL Chairman-cum- Managing Director Anil Srivastava told reporters here.

Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had suspended commercial operations of Pawan Hans helicopters across the northeastern region in May last year after Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others died in a chopper crash off Se La Pass in Tawang district in April 2011.

Meghalaya is the first state in the northeastern region where Pawan Hans services have been resumed.

Srivastava said, "We will be very careful, everybody has to be careful, the machines, the pilots, the crew."

Besides a two-year contract with Meghalaya, the company announced it has also bagged a contract in Mizoram.

"We are in the final stages of negotiation with Mizoram government," Srivastava said.

The PHHL chief has also expressed his desire to resume services in Arunachal Pradesh.

The state government has expressed its keenness to start the chopper service again and the bidding process is expected to start soon, he claimed, adding that younger twin-engine helicopters manufactured by French giant 'Eurocopter' would be deployed in the mountainous states in the region.

Pawan Hans started operations in northeast in 1989 to connect inaccessible areas in various states. However, of late it had earned a bad name following a large number of mishaps involving its choppers.

On April 19, 2011, a Pawan Hans helicopter crashed at Naharlagun in Arunachal, killing 17 people on board.

In a similar incident in 2004, ten people, including a cabinet minister and two Meghalaya legislators, were killed in a chopper crash at Kyrdem Khla in Meghalaya's Ri-Bhoi district. (More)