Mission rescue

As it is a medical emergency,the pilot has to fly across the sea in total darkness relying only on instruments for aid,and rush against time to ensure timely medical aid for the injured worker on board.

“Night flying is not easy. It can be disorienting as one has to fly in total darkness over the sea. Most of the pilots,who are assigned to undertake such emergency evacuation at nights,have to be highly skilled and experienced,” said Captain Khosla,one of Pawan Hans’s pilots. Khosla is also an helicopter pilot instructor.

He says it is among the most satisfying bits of his career. Like Khosla,Pawan Hans has a pool of around 20-odd very senior pilots who have around 15,000 hours of flying experience. They also undertake such emergency evacuations,and most of them have worked with the defence forces in the past.

“Even though there is medical aid available on board,patients have to be evacuated immediately,especially if they have suffered a heart attack,chest pain,stomach ache,colic pain,or appendix burst. At times,water jets falling on body can also cause burns,for which a patient has to be evacuated and treated at a hospital onshore,” says Captain Purushottam Shirname,another instructor pilot with Pawan Hans.

This becomes tougher during the monsoon,when there is windy atmosphere. Sometimes,the doctor on board tells the pilot that the patient cannot be flown at an higher altitude. “If there is a height restriction,we may not be able to make an instrument landing at CSIA. Usually,we get emergency calls in the middle of the night. We check what the medical situation is,and if a doctor has to accompany us. Sometimes,a person must have just fallen off the steel staircase at the rig,but he has to be taken to a hospital onshore for medical attention.”

According to Pawan Hans,the service has been a relief to the 3,000-odd workers at Bombay High. As a result,around 5.30 pm every day,a helicopter leaves Mumbai to be stationed at the oil rig over night solely for emergency purposes.

“The task of the helicopter comes when other forms of transportation give up. We put in our best to save life or limb,” says Shirname.