Chopper issue: Pakistan’s maturity laudable

The recent episode when an Indian Army Cheetah helicopter strayed into Pakistani airspace and landed at Skardu in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was fortunately resolved peacefully. While investigations into the incident will hopefully identify the reasons for the infringement and make necessary recommendations, such episodes are not new.

Soon after the India-Pakistan War of 1971, an Indian Air Observation Post Cheetah helicopter landed on a helipad in PoK by mistake. The helicopter carried Indian Air Force markings, as in those days these machines were technically on the inventory of the IAF, but were flown by Indian Army pilots. For reasons not available in public domain, the helicopter crashed in an attempt to take-off in a hurry after having discovered the error. The helicopter was written off and it took a few days to repatriate the crew as the situation on the border was sensitive and filled with post- war tension.

In 2002, an IAF Antonov-32 inadvertently flew across the Line of Control near Kargil and was severely damaged by Pakistani anti-aircraft ground fire. Fortunately, the pilot managed to fly the crippled machine back for a safe landing. The aircraft and the crew had a miraculous escape.

Flying over Ladakh’s inhospitable terrain is quite different from operating in the plains. The area is devoid of navigational aids, there is no radar cover available and the weather is treacherous as well as unreliable. Even with hand-held GPS, operating in these areas can be tricky. Helicopters generally follow prominent and identifiable valleys that may get covered by clouds rather rapidly, creating serious difficulty for the pilot. Landing sites are few and far between and the high mountain ranges inhibit flexibility in the selection of routes for navigation. Overall, operations in these areas are professionally far more challenging than those over the plains and demand higher levels of skills.

The secret of success lies in training, which needs to be oriented to the conditions, and complete familiarisation with the terrain. Pilots have to be trained to a high level of competence particularly to cope with contingencies. Such training cannot be completed in a hurry and a short cut can spell disaster. And therein arises the problem. It needs to be examined whether pilots from the Indian Army or the IAF posted to helicopter units in the field areas have long enough tenures and are imparted the right type of training to develop the level of professional competence and skills required to cope with the daunting challenges of operating over areas such as Ladakh.

Thankfully, the Pakistan government displayed a remarkable, though unexpected, level of maturity and understanding in a situation they could have easily exploited to their advantage pushing India on to the back foot. Given the volatility in India-Pakistan relations in the context of the rapidly changing geostrategic paradigms in the region — in the light of the impending withdrawal of the US forces, and the recently forged India-Afghanistan strategic partnership — any Indian violation of Pakistani airspace, especially over Pakistan-occupied Kashmir could have proved disastrous. Mercifully, better sense prevailed.

While this round must clearly go to Pakistan, hopefully, the Indian military establishment will draw the right lessons from this narrow escape.

The writer is a former Air Officer Commanding- in-Chief, Training Command, Bangalore, and has flown extensively in the Ladakh region   l inbox@dnaindia.net