In a serious violation of aviation rules, the single-engine aircraft that crashed in Faridabad Wednesday night should not have been operated as a medical evacuation flight at all since the rules don’t allow it, top government aviation sources have told this newspaper. Ten precious lives would have been saved if the rules were followed.
The DGCA’s rules on non-scheduled air transport services clearly states that “operations with single-engine aeroplanes shall be conducted only on domestic sectors except for medical evacuation flights”. This is listed in the DGCA’s civil aviation requirement on “minimum requirements for grant of permit to operate non-scheduled air transport services”, issued on June 1 last year.
When contacted, a top government source said: “A single-engine aircraft should not be operated as an air ambulance or medical evacuation flight. This issue will be taken up by the committee of inquiry probing the crash.” The committee will also examine if there was any engine failure.
Seven persons on board the aircraft lost their lives while three others on the ground in Faridabad were killed too when the single-engine Swiss-made Pilatus plane crashed in extremely bad weather. It was bringing a critically-ill patient suffering from hepatitis from Patna to New Delhi’s Apollo Hospital for treatment. The aviation authorities will now examine why this violation took place.