Heli services in Uttarakhand need a review

THE helicopter crash that killed all seven persons on board in Uttarakhand on June 15 was avoidable, had the authorities gone beyond piecemeal measures in response to the telltale warning signs. Four incidents in four weeks — one fatal crash that claimed six lives and three cases of emergency landing — had made it obvious that travelling by air on the Char Dham Yatra route was hazardous. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told heli service operators on June 11 that any compromise with safety standards would not be tolerated; he also ordered an audit of recent helicopter accidents to prevent their recurrence. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the nation’s aviation safety regulator, was in the thick of things as well. On June 9, it ordered special audits and enhanced surveillance of helicopter operators providing shuttle and charter services during the ongoing yatra. Surely nothing could go wrong amid such intense scrutiny, but it did.