If the Ministry of Civil Aviation awakens to the infrastructural needs of the helicopter section of the civil aviation industry in India, the total number of helicopters engaged in multifarious and indispensable roles in the service of the nation could double in the next five years in pursuit of the existing demand

The first commercial flight in Indian aviation history was flown in 1953 in a Hiller UH12B at Mumbai, and the first Indian Air Force (IAF) one in a Sikorsky S-55 the next year. Almost six decades later, while the IAF has graduated on to the best, the heaviest and the fiercest of the world’s helicopters, civil use of helicopters is unimpressive. This is despite the plentiful opportunity that India’s vast expanses of hostile terrain offer in terms of “helicopter territory” i.e. terrain where air travel is necessary but the terrain does not permit construction of airports.

According to the DGCA official website, the total number of helicopters bearing civil registration is only 288 as compared to 1,122 fixed-wing aircraft. This is so despite the broad range of roles that helicopters fly in today within India. The first need for helicopters is where airports are not feasible; this is especially (but not exclusively) applicable to mountainous terrain. Then there is intra-city mobility—the increasing trend of new Greenfield airports coming up far away from the cities they are intended to serve is popularising the concept of intracity helicopter movements. Movements of VVIPs/VIPs when not being performed by military helicopters is another role for the rotary-wing craft as is related security and policing duties. Then of course there is medical evacuation —a concept yet to really take off in India as seriously as in other advanced countries. The day is not far off when we will have a company with medical evacuation as its only business. Disasters and emergencies also have their own demands to make for helicopter operations. Helicopters have also been used for crop spraying, fire fighting, dropping food and supplies to unreachable areas, search and rescue, high sea operations (ships, oil rigs, and islands) and tourism-related flights. Another growth area is use of these specialised ubiquitous machines by highway patrols and news gathering agencies.