Allegations of gross violation of safety guidelines against Pawan Hans

GANGTOK, 29 June: Allegations of gross violation of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines, safety measures and flight clearance for Schedule Operation Plan against Pawan Hans have come to light.
The incident was reported after the Manager Operation of Pawan Hans wrote a letter to the DGCA for action against the Pawan Hans officials based in Gangtok and Bagdogra.
As per the complaint, on 24 June, a Pawan Hans chopper took off from Bagdogra for Gangtok with two passengers without the mandatory clearance or certification of the Base Engineer. Bad weather conditions in Gangtok  forced the helicopter to undertake emergency landing.
The 17th Mountain Division had permitted Pawan Hans for emergency landing at the Libing helipad and the pilot and co-pilot were also given the option of landing at the Rangpo Cricket Ground. However, the pilots allegedly refused to do so even as the operations manager was stationed at the Libing helipad for the emergency landing, states a complaint letter addressed to the Managing Director of Sikkim Tourism Development Cooperation and DGCA. The pilot and co-pilot instead landed at the Sports Complex near Ban Jhankri falls.
The afternoon sortie of 407 Pawan Hans on 24 June grossly violated and overlooked safety measures risking the lives of the two passengers on board. The state government is unaware of the incident, since the Civil Aviation department has no mechanism to monitor flight safety, the complaint letter adds. The Sikkim government is paying Rs. 22 lakh as rent per month besides Rs. 387 per minute of flight.
It may be mentioned here that Governor BP Singh was scheduled to leave for New Delhi after addressing the Budget Session of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly on 25 June. He was to reach Bagdogra by helicopter, but due to bad weather conditions his flight was rescheduled for the next day.

Choppers keep busy, evacuate 156 people

GENERATOR AIRLIFTED TO LACHEN
GANGTOK, 30 Sept: Pawan Hans helicopters flew 36 sorties from Mangan on Friday, flying to Chungthang, Lachen and Lachung, reaching and evacuating people and personnel. The two helicopters evacuated 101 people from different locations today.
Similarly, Army spokespersons, Col Ravi Patil informed that army helicopters evacuated 25 people, mostly NDRF personnel, from Chungthang to Gangtok. Among those evacuated from Chungthang were 19 NDRF personnel and one pregnant lady.

Army choppers fly more than 10,000 kgs in supplies to North Sikkim

GANGTOK, 29 Sept: Indian Army’s fleet of seven helicopters dedicated to relief operations in Sikkim airlifted more than 10,000 kgs of essential commodities and other supplies to North district today. These helicopters are flying sorties out of Gangtok and Mangan and air-lifting supplies being dispatched by the Food & Civil Supplies Department and relief packets put together by NGOs and aid agencies.

Pawan Hans benched

GANGTOK, 03 May: Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited [PHHL], the only air service available to Sikkim, has suspended its helicopter service in Sikkim. This was done on 01 May “till further notice”.
The suspension of the helicopter service in the State was effected through a letter to the Chief Executive Officer, Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation [STDC], which operates the chopper service, from the PHHL Base Manager, Gangtok, on 01 May.
PHHL has suspended operations in six north-eastern states, including Sikkim, after a helicopter with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Dorjee Khandu, and four others on board went missing on 30 April. The chopper remains untraced thus far and is the second [suspected] Pawan Hans crash in recent weeks. The earlier crash was also in Arunachal Pradesh when 17 people died in a crash on 19 April.