Tata Group gets nod for rooftop helipad

The government on Wednesday granted operational clearance to Tata Group's private roof-top helipad, only the second such facility in the country, in south Mumbai.

Director General of Civil Aviation Kanu Gohain signed the papers in New Delhi granting permission to the Tata Group for the helipad atop the Taj Wellington Mews -- a luxury hotel -- for private use. Trial landings were conducted last month.

The other such helipad is also in Mumbai and is operated by the Essar Group from its facility in the Mahalakshmi area.

"Such helipads will encourage users and, in particular, hospitals to operate helicopters for medical emergencies or disaster management," Gohain said on the sidelines of an international conference on chopper operations.

He said a few more applications, which had been received by the DGCA earlier, had been rejected primarily on the ground of obstacles on the flight path.

Asked about proposals to construct heliports in Delhi, especially on the banks of river Yamuna, Gohain said: "Helipads or heli-stops could be considered there, if not for public use and subject to fulfilling of the conditions, rules and regulations set by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation)."

"These could be used for the upcoming 2010 Commonwealth Games. However, no final decision has been taken," he said.

While heliports are like airports having hangar, maintenance and other facilities for helicopters, helipads and heli-stops are meant only for landing and take-off and have no permanency.

Addressing the seminar, Gohain said the high growth in the fixed wing sector had not been matched by rotary wing with the number of choppers in the country increasing from 109 in 2003 to only 191 this year so far.

This was mainly due to lack of separate helicopter routes and enclaves, parking and maintenance facilities at airports and regulations to sustain chopper operations, he said.

The DGCA chief said the regulatory body had already formulated detailed rules, called Civil Aviation Requirements, and was working on more regulations to meet specific needs.

The seminar organised jointly by DGCA, its French counterpart DGAC and Rotary Wing Society of India, also saw a senior official saying that the Union civil aviation ministry was looking at the constraints faced by helicopter operators. Observing that both fixed and rotary wings were governed by the same the Air Traffic Control regulations in India, ministry joint secretary Arun Mishra said a helicopter bound for short distance travel cannot wait for the ATC to grant clearance to fly. The clearance, he indicated, would take long time after the planes take off.

"The ministry is looking into this issue" and new rules for chopper operations were being evolved, he said.

Maintaining that there were about 300 pilots for 190 helicopters in the country, he said that efforts on pilot training and maintenance and overhaul should be made on war-footing as the sector was bound to witness growth in the coming years.

Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd chief R K Tyagi projected that in the next five years, 4,000 helicopters would be required in the country and recommended building of heliports in major cities like Delhi in the pattern of the Manhattan heliport in the United States.