With election campaigning set to become more hectic in the coming days, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued fresh guidelines for operating small aircraft/helicopters which are used by VIPs, persons in the Special Protection Group who are given special protection and other persons of eminence.
The guidelines issued on Monday ask the flight crew to google helipad coordinates to check their correctness, suitability and other flying aspects like obstacles (for instance, tall trees and high tension wires) and landing and take-off directions among others.
In addition, the new guidelines ask the flight crew to carry local maps during flights and use them for navigation without relying only on GPS.
“The operator shall ascertain from the District Administration that the surface of the temporary helipad is level and does not have loose soil which might raise a dust with rotor downwash cutting down visibility at the time of landing which may lead to disorientation,” the new directions state.
Besides, company representatives have been asked to monitor every leg/ sortie and take action if an aircraft does not land within 45 minutes of its scheduled arrival time.
It will now be the responsibility of the operator to file with the Election Commission details of each flight along with the passenger manifest and any observation made by the District Authorities/Election Commission (if there are any). The flight duty time limitation of the crew will have to be filed with the DGCA’s Helicopter Division every Monday.
Each operator will also have to nominate a responsible person for managing election flying who will be accountable for ensuring compliance of all instructions issued by the DGCA, the Airports Authority of India, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the Election Commission. The operators have been asked to provide the details of the nominated person to the DGCA’s Helicopter Division before commencement of flying.
The operator and flight crew will also have to ensure that no unauthorised cash, arms, ammunition, narcotics or illegal arms are carried on board the aircraft/helicopter according to the guidelines issued by the Election Commission.