Air Chief says copters adhered to ATC directive

Bangalore: Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major on Wednesday virtually put the onus of defending the Monday’s decision of landing VIP helicopters in Mumbai on the Air Traffic Control (ATC), a move that led to an Air India plane pulling the emergency brakes to avoid an accident.
The Air Chief’s clarification came at a press conference here even as the Air Force announced that the aircraft involved in the Jorhat “near miss” belonged to the Aviation Resarch Centre (ARC) under the Cabinet Secretariat.
While stating that an inquiry was on, the Air chief reconstructed the sequence of events. He said three helicopters of the VIP squadron were ferrying the President and her aides from a naval base to Santa Cruz. The helicopters were cleared by the ATC to take off from the naval base on the frequency allotted to them. They were communicated on the same frequency to land on runway number 27. The Air India aircraft was on a different frequency.
“No pilot ever changes the frequency unless asked to. The three helicopters adhered to the briefing and remained on one channel. Why two separate frequencies were used will have to be answered,” Air Chief Marshal Major said.
The Monday incident saw the Air India flight to Delhi aborting the take-off 150 metres after sighting a helicopter. The aircraft was carrying 150 passengers.
To a question that in the wake of the two near misses, is there a need for an integrated air traffic management, the Air Chief emphasised that there existed civil-military coordination. The current traffic management followed the IAF’s “flexi use” policy of sharing air space.
IAF spokesman Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani said here that the aircraft involved in the Jorhat incident belonged to the ARC. “We have nothing to do with it; the aircraft belongs to the ARC,” he told correspondents.
12/02/09 K.V.Prasad/The Hindu

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Categories: Air India Domestic Feb 2009, Airports Feb 2009, NACIL Feb 2009, Safety Feb 2009