New Delhi, November 1: Helicopter companies operating on the Char Dham pilgrimage routes have collectively written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) opposing the mandatory twin-pilot requirement and warning that they will suspend all charter flight operations from November 2, ANI reported.
Source: ANI via NewKerala
The standoff follows the October 30 crash of a Trans Bharat Aviation helicopter returning from Badrinath to Dehradun, in which six people — the pilot and five passengers — were killed. As Awaaz Punjab reported on October 31, UCADA and the DGCA responded by making a co-pilot mandatory on every Char Dham charter flight and requiring a pilot report after every flight, while the AAIB began a detailed probe into the crash.
Read the earlier development: the co-pilot mandate announced a day after the crash. Co-pilot made mandatory on all Char Dham charters after Badrinath crash
Demanding that the mandate be withdrawn, the operators submitted a joint representation to the Director General of Civil Aviation on October 31. In the letter, quoted by ANI, they said: "While we fully acknowledge and appreciate the regulatory authorities' responsibility towards maintaining the highest standards of aviation safety, we believe that the introduction of mandatory twin-pilot operations, without adequate consultation with the operators and assessment of its commercial and operational implications, will make the continuation of operations financially unviable for all operators."
The letter said deploying two pilots on every sortie would substantially increase operating costs, crew requirements, accommodation and logistical expenses, and that under prevailing charter rates and limited margins the added costs "cannot be reasonably absorbed by the operators" and cannot feasibly be passed in full to customers. Any additional safety measures, the operators said, must be "practical, proportionate, commercially sustainable and developed in consultation with the operating stakeholders".
Source: ANI via NewKerala
Formally notifying the regulator, the operators wrote that they are "proposing to suspend their Char Dham charter operations with effect from 02 November 2026, until the matter is reviewed and a mutually workable solution is arrived at by the concerned authorities in consultation with the operators". Reports on the DGCA directive also say pilots must obtain destination and en-route clearance from the control room at Sahastradhara before each flight and file a pilot report after landing at every helipad.
The Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA) has backed the operators. Its managing director Rajesh Bali wrote to the DGCA on Sunday asking that the twin-pilot requirement "be kept on hold pending a considered review and the findings and recommendations of the ongoing accident investigation", adding that single-pilot operations have been an established practice in the sector for several years, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.
Source: The Hindu BusinessLine
What happens next is a direct test of how quickly the DGCA, UCADA and the operators can reach a workable arrangement: if no review or pause is announced before Monday, pilgrims booked on Char Dham helicopter charters from November 2 face grounded flights, while the AAIB investigation into Friday's crash continues separately. Awaaz Punjab will update this story as the DGCA responds.