YSR pilot had poor track record

Jan. 21: Group Captain S.K. Bhatia, the pilot in command (PIC) of the ill-fated Bell 430 helicopter that crashed, killing Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and four others on board on September 2, had on an earlier occasion refused to undergo a pre-flight medical examination for consumption of alcohol in violation of rules.
He had earlier failed to take action to rectify the fluctuation of the hydraulic system on a flight that had the Dalai Lama on board, an inquiry committee report has revealed.
The four-member inquiry committee headed by Pawan Hans Helicopters CMD, Mr R.K. Tyagi, said Gp. Capt. Bhatia was involved in “reportable incidents”.
It said: “He was involved in an incident on 19.01.2009 while operating flight from Hyderabad to Gulbarga with Hon’ble Dalai Lama on board. Hydraulic pressure of No. 2 system was fluctuating and failed to take appropriate action even though he was cautioned by the co-pilot for the same (sic).”
The report said he was involved in incidents of “exceedances” of torque on three different occasions and that “these exceedances were not reported to the regulatory authority”.
The committee detected discrepancies regarding Gp. Capt. Bhatia’s licence, which it said indicated “lack of knowledge/disregard to the rules”. “For the endorsement on Bell 430 helicopters, only one instrument rating test was carried out against the requirement of two instrument rating tests...” the report states.
Flying hours during training sorties were reflected in the “personal log book whereas it should be in the training column”, it stated.
The PIC had not completed his mandatory “recurrent simulator training” that was due in June last year.
Slamming the functioning of the AP Aviation Corporation Ltd the report states that the “organisation discouraged its pilots to undergo mandatory recurrent simulator training”. It points out that “no attempt was made to revise the operational manual of the organisation in view of the new civil aviation requirements...”. The report said APACL MD was changed thrice and “no system has been evolved for co-ordinated working”.