Realising the potential shown by civilian helicopter operations across the country, the government today said the civil aviation ministry will soon set up a "helicopter mission" to coordinate chopper operations and to thrash out issues concerning the industry.
"We (the government) plan to set up a helicopter mission, a coordinating mechanism in the ministry under a joint secretary, where all the stakeholders will come together and address issues to find a dynamic solution to take forward civilian helicopter operations in the country," Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla said.
The "helicopter mission" would coordinate the well-orchestrated growth plans and aspects of the civilian chopper industry, Chawla said at a daylong national seminar on Helicopter Emergency Medical Services and Development of Heliports here.
"It is very important to have a coordinated approach to improve the present civilian helicopter services and increase the number of helicopters in service from the present 118 to 500 helicopters by 2015. We are sure this growth in the civilian chopper will be happen," he said.
Chawla also announced that the government would set up a heliport in Delhi for which land had been identified in Rohini, apart from exploring the option of having another heliport along the DND Flyover that connects the national capital and Noida.
Pointing out that there were two important impediments in the growth of the civilian helicopter services, Chawla said safety and human resources were the prime concerns today.
"As far as safety is concerned, there can be no compromise, just as it is so in the normal scheduled and non-scheduled passenger aviation operations. It will be more so in the helicopter industry, due to the difficult terrain, time and operations that they carry out," he said.
