A day after 17 persons were killed after a Pawan Hans Mi17 helicopter crashed while landing in Tawang, the state government today demanded an inquiry into the maintenance of the choppers.
A day after 17 persons were killed after a Pawan Hans Mi17 helicopter crashed while landing in Tawang, the Arunachal Pradesh government today demanded an inquiry into the maintenance of the choppers.
The Pawan Hans Mi17 chopper crashed yesterday killing 17 people on board including three crew members, but its pilot and five others survived with serious burn injuries.
The injured persons were flown to Guwahati today by helicopter, from where two of them have been referred to Delhi.
The Arunachal Pradesh government has blamed Pawan Hans Helicopter Services Limited (PHHL) for the crash.
PHHS operates five helicopters across Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura and daily Guwahati-Tawang services for the past nine years.
Alleging negligence by the Pawan Hans authority, the state government in a letter to the Union ministry of civil aviation sought an inquiry on maintenance and mandatory inspections as per Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines.
"Despite repeated written complaint to the Pawan Hans chairperson-cum-chief managing director RK Tyagi and general manager (Marketing) and in-charge of North East Sanjoy Kumar to replace the 15-year-old choppers being pressed into service in the state since 1995, the authority remained unmoved," Civil Aviation Commissioner Hage Khoda said.
Khoda had written to Tyagi on January 18 last year complaining about poor performance of PHHL and requesting him to deploy two new Mi17 choppers in place of existing ones with one back-up to avoid service breaks.
"I wrote to the CMD on August 10 last year immediately after the death of a cabin crew member Dhananjay Roy on August 6 after he fell off a similar chopper while flying from Namsai to Tezu on routine passenger service and demanded suitable steps to improve safety standards," he said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}