A group of retired pilots have decided to make a documentary on aviation accidents, to systematically highlight the problems lea-ding up to such incidents. This is the first-of-a-kind endeavour in the country and has been taken up keeping in mind the recent air crashes. The project is aimed at revisiting all the major air crashes to bring the issue of flight safety into the public domain.
According to former Jet Airways pilot Captain Girish Kaushik, he was inspired by the critically acclaimed Air Crash Investigations series on the National Geographic Channel. “We will first give an overview of the history of air crashes in the country, starting with the one on Trombay Hill in 1967 involving a trainer plane. This includes the earlier safety guidelines when aviation in India was in its nascent stage, and what they have evolved to at present,” he said.
Mr Kaushik has tied up with Captain Mohan Ranganathan and Colonel (retired) D.K. Chand for the film. “The documentary is in its conceptual stage and needs a lot of legwork and data collection from offices of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA),” he added.
The documentary will explore several angles surrounding the Mangalore air crash and the two helicopter crashes, which killed the Andhra Pradesh CM Y.S.R Reddy and Arunachal Pradesh CM Dori Khandu. “There are several instances of government authorities like the DGCA concealing theirs and the airlines’ shortcomings and putting the blame on the pilots,” Mr Kaushik added.
Speaking about the current level of adherence to flight safety rules, Retd Colonel Chand said, “Airlines have compromised heavily on quality control in the pursuit of making profits. There are several rules in chopper operations, which are still overlooked. If this continues unabated, it will lead to a major catastrophe.”