The Chhattisgarh Government is now preferring those helicopter pilots who have sufficient experience flying in insurgency- infested regions. The State Civil Aviation Directorate had recently called for companies to avail services of one single engine with 4-6 seater capacity (excluding pilots) helicopter for use by State Police and other Government officials on a long charter basis, official sources said.
Chhattisgarh has a history of choppers being attacked by insurgents in the red zone. Even Indian Air Force (IAF) choppers had been hit from firing by rebels in heavily forested patches of Bastar region when they tried to land for evacuation of security personnel. The Civil Aviation Directorate put up a condition that the operator would need to attach certificate of operational experience in left Wing Extremism (lWE) areas issued by concerned State’s Police or Aviation Departments, sources stated.
The operators, sources stated, were also informed that the helicopter will be based at Jagdalpur — the district headquarters of insurgency infested Bastar district but will be required to operate in the entire State. The Directorate stated that the company and the helicopter owner will have to provide a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) for operations of crew and helicopter in the entire Chhattisgarh region.