Aerospace Diary

  Neelam Mathews     April 24, 2016 Long overlooked, helicopter emergency medical services ( HEMS ) in India will get a boost through a civil aviation requirement to be issued by the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) in mid-April. This is the first time separate regulations are being set for the  HEMS  industry in India. Issues to be addressed include eliminating the requirement for  HEMS  operators to file a flight plan and allowing helicopters to fly point-to-point without prior air traffic control clearance in airspace below 5,000 feet and outside of prohibited or restricted areas. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is simultaneously working on a plan to coordinate with the National Highways Authority of India, hospitals, insurance companies, on-ground ambulance services and airports to facilitate rapid medical evacuation. “ HEMS  is critical for India, which has a poor road infrastructure. There is...

AVIATION INTERNATIONAL NEWS  »  SEPTEMBER 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Despite tough times, India’s Nirma Group took delivery of an AgustaWestland GrandNew light twin outfitted in full VIP configuration. September 4, 2013, 3:10 AM Even as the presence of helicopter  OEM s doubled in India (to 10 from five), double-digit growth in its civil helicopter fleet in the seven years preceding 2011 gave way to negative growth last year when the fleet reduced from 293 to 266. High operational costs, exacerbated by a depreciated rupee that fell 35 percent in the past 40 months, are posing challenges for the industry. “It’s a cumulative result of lack of optimum utilization, safety performance, infrastructure constraints and regulatory issues,” said K. Sridharan, president of the Rotary Wing Society of India ( RWSI ). The cost-related issues of the helicopter industry range from micro to macro even as the  RWSI  has call...

ABACE CONVENTION NEWS » 2013 by  NEELAM MATHEWS April 15, 2013, 8:45 PM India’s yet-to-take off helicopter emergency medical services program (HEMS) received a boost earlier this year with a firm contract for seven Eurocopter EC135s by Bangalore-based Aviators Ltd. signed in the presence of visiting French president François Hollande. Deliveries are to start by the end of 2013 and operations are to be launched by the first quarter of 2014, Arun Sharma, managing director of Aviators, told AIN. The company, which is holding “discussions with financial institutions and potential partners,” will make an announcement soon, he added. Unlike current operators that convert their helicopters to EMS on an as-needed basis, Sharma said, “Aviators’ HEMS [aircraft] will not be used for executive charter operations. It will be manned by qualified paramedics, part of the crew.” Equipped with a Fenestron shrouded tail-rotor and bearingless main rotor, the EC135’s large unobstructed cabin,...