Mumbai: Flights involving heavy helicopters like the 13-seater Bell 212 that crashed on Sunday will be safer from next year. By then, many choppers in the country will be fitted with a piece of equipment that gives aural warnings to the pilot about approaching hills, buildings, terrain and other obstacles in the flight path.
A 2011 circular issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) says all helicopters with all-up weight-sum of weight of aircraft, fuel, passengers and payload-of 3,175 kg or more should be fitted with an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS). The deadline for it is December 31.
An EGPWS is an equipment that computes the position of an aircraft and its flight path angle in relation to the ground and obstacles ahead and blares warnings in the cockpit. The weight restriction in the DGCA circular means that the norm would only apply to heavy helicopters that typically have seven seats or more.
03/10/13 Manju V/Times of India
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A 2011 circular issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) says all helicopters with all-up weight-sum of weight of aircraft, fuel, passengers and payload-of 3,175 kg or more should be fitted with an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS). The deadline for it is December 31.
An EGPWS is an equipment that computes the position of an aircraft and its flight path angle in relation to the ground and obstacles ahead and blares warnings in the cockpit. The weight restriction in the DGCA circular means that the norm would only apply to heavy helicopters that typically have seven seats or more.
03/10/13 Manju V/Times of India
