AOAN seeks action against people who roughed up chopper pilot

Airline Operators asked the government to take action against those, who attacked the pilot of a chopper today.

Issuing a press note Airline Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) denounced the attack on a senior pilot, who has been serving the nation in thick and thin. “The Home Ministry, Chief District Officer (CDO) and security agencies must take action against those involved in the thrashing of pilot,” the press note reads, asking for security of the airline staffers.

The locals have roughed up a senior captain Ranesh Dangol and the passengers of Prabhu Air chopper as they landed the chopper in a football ground in Syangja, when a match was underway. 

The First Waling Gold Cup Tournament was taking place at the football ground in Waling -8 when the Robinson helicopter of Prabhu Air landed at a football ground at 2 pm today. A lot of football fans were watching the semi-final match between Waling Red and Cameroon team, when the chopper 9N-ALX landed on the ground, blowing away a thick cloud of dust around it, the locals said. “Players dispersed making the locals angry.”

“As the first half of the match was taking place, a helicopter appeared in the sky and landed in the ground,” according to the chairman of the Waling Youth Club LB Jwarchan. “This is a big blunder on the part of pilot,” he said, adding that players scuttled off to safety. “Luckily nothing untoward happened.”

Though no untoward incident happened, it was a sheer breach of flying protocol, the locals claimed, taking the matter into their own hands and roughing up the pilot senior captain Ramesh Dangol.

After the scuffle, the chopper flew back to Pokhara leaving the passenger. Binod Gaire, Khim Bahadur Thapa, Sushil Giri, Sushil Thapa of Waling-9 had chartered a helicopter to Waling for Rs 40,000.

Senior captain Dangol said that he was forced to land the chopper as the passenger demanded him to do so but the irate mob of players and organisers attacked him leaving his nose and mouth bleeding.

CDO of Syangja Ganga Bahadur Chhetri also said that the helicopter had not informed the district administration about its plan to land in the football ground. 

Meanwhile, District Administration Office, Syangja, has written a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to investigate the matter. CAAN, in response, informed the administration that it has initiated an action against the chopper.

Government limits Airbus AS350 helicopter from carrying more than six people

The government has limited the Airbus-manufactured AS350 model helicopter to carry up to six people only.
The government has limited the number of passengers that Airbus-manufactured AS350 model helicopter can carry, after the fatal helicopter crash in Taplejung on February 27 that claimed lives of a minister, tourism entrepreneuer, aviation officials and pilot.
An Air Dynasty AS350 helicopter had crashed on February 27 in which then tourism minister Rabindra Adhikari lost his life along with five other passengers including two officials of the country’s aviation regulatory body and the pilot.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and Helicopter Society of Nepal signed an agreement yesterday to remove the seventh seat from all the helicopters of Airbus-manufactured AS350 model, after the fatal crash. Earlier, the AS350 model was being operated in a 6+1 seat format, which has now been changed to 5+1 seat format. Most of the chopper service providers have removed the seventh seat.
According to CAAN, the difficult geographical terrain of Nepal has made putting seven people on board the AS350 model chopper more risky when the helicopter is flying to hilly and mountainous areas. So the authority has decided to remove the seventh seat to make the chopper ride more safe. CAAN said it is also preparing guidelines for helicopter services for VIPs flights.