Aerospace Diary

AVIATION INTERNATIONAL NEWS  »  MAY 2014 by    NEELAM MATHEWS May 6, 2014, 3:30 AM Indian helicopter operators have asked the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) to revoke a new requirement making pilots personally responsible for conducting security checks on passengers. Ahead of India’s long election campaign, which ends this month and involves extensive use of chartered helicopters by politicians, the  DGCA sent out a directive that obliges pilots to personally search passengers for guns and other illegal items. They are also required to enforce restrictions on charter customers bringing additional passengers on flights at the last minute, a common expectation for election campaign flights. The Rotary Wing Society of India ( RWSI ) lodged a complaint with the  DGCA  after a helicopter pilot and one of the operator’s mechanics were allegedly beaten up by aides working for an unidentified politi...

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...