' Choppers are safe but weather can't be predicted'.HOW SAFE are helicopter operations in India? Though aviation experts say choppers are as safe in the country as in any part of the world, they encounter problems when they operate in remote areas. For example, on the established Delhi- Mumbai route, pilots are backed by minute- to- minute weather information, but in jungles and valleys it is difficult to operate due to absence of Met offices, admitted an official of the Rotary Wing Society of India The Rotary Wing Society of India is a non-profit professional society that was founded on 18 June 1998 to aid the growth of the helicopter industry in India. RWSI has approximately 81 corporate members and 550 aviation professionals from the Indian civil and military aviation and ( RWSI). According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the RWSI, in all there have been over 29 major accidents involving civil registered helicopters since 1990. Nine of them took place in 2003- 2004 alone. Out of the 29 accidents, eight were fatal. Sixteen of the 29 major accidents have been due to pilot error and eight because of improper maintenance of the choppers. Three of the accidents occurred on the ground when people walked into the rotating main or tail rotor Noun 1. tail rotor - rotor consisting of a rotating airfoil on the tail of a single-rotor helicopter; keeps the helicopter from spinning in the direction opposite to the rotation of the main rotor anti-torque rotor . Two major accidents could not be attributed to any particular reason owing to owing to prep. Because of; on account of: I couldn't attend, owing to illness. owing to prep → debido a, por causa de insufficient knowledge. RWSI president Retired Air Vice Marshal K. Sreedharan suspects Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (än`drə prä`dāsh), state (2001 provisional pop. 75,727,541), 106,052 sq mi (275,608 sq km), SE India, on the Bay of Bengal. The capital is Hyderabad. chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy's chopper could have gone missing due to loss of visual reference. " This was also the case when Lok Sabha Speaker GMC GMC See: Guaranteed Mortgage Certificate Balayogi died in a crash," he said. " The pilot takes off in good visibility and fair weather but if there is loss of visual reference or the weather suddenly becomes inclement in·clem·ent adj. 1. Stormy: inclement weather. 2. Showing no clemency; unmerciful. in·clem , the pilot has to make an emergency landing or return. The tendency to continue flying could prove to be fatal ( in Reddy's case)," he added. Sreedharan further explained that that from 1990 to 2009 there have been six fatal and one nonfatal accidents due to loss of visual reference. The other reasons for chopper accidents included loss of power, component failure and loss of control, among others. Aviation experts say accidents occur due to multiple reasons which could include pilot error, bad weather, lightning strike, turbulence and technical snag. During landing, even a sudden change in the wind direction could affect tail rotor efficiency. Senior pilot Cdr M. K. Singh, who flies Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's chopper, said " helicopters are safe but the uncertainties of weather cannot be predicted". " The chopper needn't go right into the bad weather zone, as most of the modern helicopters have weather radars which can look up to 250 kilometres," he said. " Choppers also have features to avoid turbulence and the ability to hover around a place because of more manoeuvrability Noun 1. manoeuvrability - the quality of being maneuverable maneuverability mobility - the quality of moving freely weatherliness - (of a sailing vessel) the quality of being able to sail close to the wind with little drift to the leeward (even in a ," Singh added. Copyright 2009 India Today Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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