IMD to set up system to prevent chopper crashes

In the last six months,Delhi and NCR witnessed six helicopter crashes and an air ambulance disaster. Most of the incidents had reportedly occurred due to bad weather and delayed weather forecasts.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has now decided to procure a heliport-specific Aviation Weather Decision Support System to collect meteorological data from various high-tech instruments. Speaking at a seminar organised by Aviation Watch on Safety and Security of the Indian aviation industry on Wednesday,IMD Director (Aviation Services) M K Bhatnagar said,“The system will predict hazardous weather phenomena such as thunderstorms,microbursts,wind shears,turbulence and fog for real-time delivery to air traffic controllers as well as operational meteorologists.”

Bhatnagar said a Central Aviation Meteorological Division (CAMD),an integrated centre for planning,decision-making and monitoring of aviation-related activities,has also been created in the IMD. “CAMD will be responsible for generating and providing an upgraded and expanded range of centrally derived aviation products to all the airports. In addition to this,CAMD will undertake research and development work for better forecast of aviation hazards such as fog,turbulence and wind shears,” he said.