Seaplane misses clearance due to stretched inaugural function

An enthusiastic Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel may have described the launch of seaplane operations   — to be called Jal Hans — as a dream come true when he did the honours at Mumbai’s Juhu Aerodrome; but the lone amphibious Cessna Caravan 208 A, which is on wet lease to Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL), didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to take off.

A stretched inaugural meant that the Air Traffic Control clearance for 12.30pm was missed. The next clearance came a good two hours after Patel had flown off, even as PHHL staff and the media posse kept getting toasted in the afternoon sun.

“There is a lot of flight activity at this time of day and new rules mean that if you miss your turn you go back to the end of the queue and begin the process to seek a clearance afresh,” explained an apologetic senior Pawan Hans official.

Not that this was doing much to cool an irate Ronald Colby who was flying the Cessna. “This is annoying. I have flown all the way from Malaysia and now this delay has meant another long wait,” rued the American expat pilot who already seemed weary with the wait. Colby and another expat pilot will operate out of the airport in Port Blair and land at or take off from identified waterdromes in Havelock and Diglipur. The only Indian who has some experience flying a Cessna has never landed on water and will need more training before he can be pressed into service.

“Flying a seaplane is quite different from flying a fixed wing (regular plane) or moving wing craft (chopper). Any error can cause capsizing, so training will be important,” said a local pilot who flies chopper sorties to Bombay High regularly. PHHL CMD RK Tyagi said this was just an initial problem. “Once our staff is trained, we will be able to have more aircraft and augment our services,” he told DNA.

Earlier Patel had said, “The Centre is permitting 100% foreign direct investment in this sector and service providers like PHHL should float a subsidiary to run a fleet of seaplanes,” adding, “We want to see PHHL emerge as a 500-aircraft entity.”

Secretary, civil aviation, Dr SNA Zaidi said, “Andaman & Nicobar Islands have been witnessing a steady increase in tourists, as the tropical rain forests and waters of the Bay of Bengal are home to a vast collection of plant, animal and marine life. Adventure tourism, including trekking, island camping, snorkelling and scuba diving are also becoming popular in the Andaman Islands. The launch of seaplane operations is expected to boost tourism infrastructure.”