Question : SURVEILLANCE OF HELICOPTERS

(a) whether the Government is considering to develop an Automatic Dependent Satellite -Broadcast System to keep track of locations of helicopters flying in remote and inaccessible areas;

(b) if so, the details and the present status thereof along with the time by which a final decision is likely to be taken in this regard; and

(c) whether the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has made it mandatory for all helicopters to have an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System and if so, the details thereof?

Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION (Shri G.M. Siddeshwara)

(a) & (b): Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) facilitates the tracking of Aircraft including helicopters. This equipment have been installed at 21 locations i.e. Agartala, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Calicut, Cochin, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangalore, Nagpur, Port Blair, Thiruvananthapuram, Varanasi, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Dibrugarh, Mumbai, Vijayawada, Thiruchirapalli & Jaisalmer.

(c): No, Madam. However, earlier all helicopters when operating in accordance with Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and having maximum certificated take-off mass of more than 3175 kg or maximum passenger seating capacity of more than 9 were required to have Ground Proximity Warning System. Now, this requirement has been reviewed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation.