[Amar Sangno]
MECHUKHA, 24 Aug: A Sky One MI-172 helicopter, bearing Registration No VT-SKE, has been grounded at the Mechukha advanced landing ground (ALG) since 18 August.
The 26-seater MI-172 VT-SKE chopper, flying from Naharlagun-Pasighat via Aalo with 10 passengers on board safely landed at Mechukha on 18 August. However, before its return flight to Aalo, it reportedly developed a technical snag.
Upon being contacted, the Civil Aviation Directorate confirmed the report of the grounded Sky One helicopter at the remote Shi-Yomi district’s ADC headquarters.
An official at Sky One informed that due to the technical snag, the helicopter is has been grounded and maintenance is underway. The official added that it’s not a major issue, stating that developing technical snags and maintenance are a normal process. “The technical team is working to repair the aircraft, and it will be done within two to three days,” he said.
He also clarified that the grounding of the chopper would not affect air service in the state as Sky One has already deployed a backup aircraft into service.
The Civil Aviation Department operates two Sky One MI-172 helicopters and one Bell helicopter from Global Vectra.
Considering the communication bottlenecks, the hilly and tough terrains, and the vast geographical area of Arunachal, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been funding the operation of three helicopters to provide connectivity and transportation to remote areas under the subsidized passenger service scheme.
Apart from passenger service, the helicopters are used for patient evacuation, relief and rescue operations during natural calamities, VIP movement, etc.
As per the subsidy norms, 75 percent of the net operational cost is being borne by the MHA and 25 percent by the state government, excluding the revenue generated by passenger fares.
Currently, six Northeastern states are operating helicopter services under the MHA’s non-plan subsidized scheme: Arunachal, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Mizoram.
The MHA has prescribed weekly flying ceilings for each helicopter in operation. In Arunachal, the first MI-172 has 960 hours per annum flying limit, the second MI-172 (Guwahati-Tawang route) has 1,200 hours per annum, and medium helicopter Bell-412 has 1,300 hours per annum.
The locations connected by three helicopters from the Naharlagun base are Guwahati, Mohanbari, Tawang, Ziro, Daporijo, Koloriang, Mechukha, Tuting, Aalo, Pasighat, Dambuk, Roing, Anini, Hayuliang, Tezu, Namsai, Miao, Vijaynagar, Changlang, Khonsa, and Longding.
After the discontinuation of the Vayudoot air services in the 1980s, the state government had introduced civil passenger service through Pawan Hans helicopters in December 1995 under the 75 percent subsidy scheme of the MHA.
Initially, the service was started with a 13-seater Dauphin helicopter of the Pawan Hans Ltd. Later, at the request of the state government, the MHA included another two MI-172 helicopters under the scheme.
