Heli services in Uttarakhand need a review

THE helicopter crash that killed all seven persons on board in Uttarakhand on June 15 was avoidable, had the authorities gone beyond piecemeal measures in response to the telltale warning signs. Four incidents in four weeks — one fatal crash that claimed six lives and three cases of emergency landing — had made it obvious that travelling by air on the Char Dham Yatra route was hazardous. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told heli service operators on June 11 that any compromise with safety standards would not be tolerated; he also ordered an audit of recent helicopter accidents to prevent their recurrence. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the nation’s aviation safety regulator, was in the thick of things as well. On June 9, it ordered special audits and enhanced surveillance of helicopter operators providing shuttle and charter services during the ongoing yatra. Surely nothing could go wrong amid such intense scrutiny, but it did.

It was crystal clear that course correction would not happen overnight, yet the chopper operations were only scaled down, not suspended, before the latest mishap. This was a recipe for disaster, especially when the visibility was poor, and the inevitable happened — a helicopter carrying pilgrims from the Kedarnath shrine fell in a forest.

Greater caution should have been exercised not only in the wake of previous local incidents but also last week’s colossal air tragedy in Ahmedabad. However, it was treated as a routine chopper flight, and even the adverse weather conditions were not taken seriously. Going forward, the state government and the DGCA need to do a holistic review of the heli services. Enhancing aerial connectivity in hilly areas is a good initiative, but compromising the safety of passengers threatens to defeat its purpose.

Editorials