Not many would fathom the practice of passenger overload in a helicopter as prevalent in road transport vehicles, but the small Army 'Cheetah' choppers have carried upto five people in one sortie to speed up rescue operations in Uttarakhand.
Army aviation pilots, after taking into account the avionics of the two-seater chopper, have been flying such sorties to areas like Badrinath, Jangalchhati and Harshil.
The Army aviation today launched a reconnaissance operation through these choppers in the affected areas to rescue those who are trapped and have even sent a squad of 200 troops to comb the jungle terrains for survivors.
"We have carried as many as 5 passengers in one sortie. This an experiment which we do rarely.But keeping in mind the requirement to rescue so many people, pilots took into consideration the security aspect and the space was then created by folding the two passenger seats," a senior Army officer said.
"The machines are working using optimum fuel but security of passengers and rescued people is of paramount importance.There is no compromise on security of the men and machine," the officer said.
The Army Aviation Corps (AAC) has deployed 5 'Cheetah' choppers and two Dhruv helicopters alongside Indian Air Force (IAF) assets.
The 'Cheetah's search and rescue mission has a pilot and co-pilot and the chopper can land at small and unprepared bases.
These helicopters have till now rescued close to 500 people and are expected to take to the skies once the weather gets better, the officer said.
