By Sadbhuja Das
Exciting news lands in Mayapur. A service whereby helicopters transport pilgrims and devotees from Kolkata to Mayapur is moving forward. Today marked the first time the journey was made and several people greeted the arrival with enthusiasm. The next step is negotiating the fee which will be charged to interested parties using this quick transportation.
TOVP Managing Director, Sadbhuja Das, was among those invited to welcome the pilots. Several options for facilitating access to Mayapur are being explored, especially since the new temple is expected to attract millions!
It looks like there are firemen in the first picture. Did they come from Krishnanagar especially? If there is a regular helicopter service, does that mean we’ll have a regular fire service here also?
yeah, that photo with firefighters is a bit strange…
as far as i can tell, there is no legal requirement for firefighters to be present on the site, and especially there is no legal requirement for the show as can be seen on that picture. for a lay-man, it’s certainly not reassuring to see firefighters in such a ready-for-action position as if the fire can break out at any moment. what it it does, what can THEY do?? i think it’s a bit of a show. even if the fire does break in such a crucial moment as landing or lift off, in the case of possible subsequent accident, until the rotor comes to stop i don’t think these firefighters would do anything other than any other person in the vicinity – they’ll run for their lives. another bit of a show is the hose they are carring, which is most likely connected to a water supply. at least that’s what it looks like. alas, if that is the truth, you never use water neither on jet engine still running, as we can see on this picture, nor in any type of accident where jet fuel is involved. but i could be mistaking, and the hose is indeed connected to some other more appropriate source like DCP powder. which would be strange, understanding the effect of powder under pressure coming out of such a wide hose…
according to the Indian legislation, which is no different from the international one, regarding firefighting, the only requirement for the heliport area is to have at least one 12kg DCP powder fire extinguisher. that also implies that there is one person who can operate it, but no one who has any idea of how does it look when helicopter catches fire, would expects any person in good mental health to use the extinguisher before the helicopter and rotor itself come to rest. it takes a special firefighting techniques, educations, skills etc, to become sufficiently trained and approved for aircraft firefighting and rescue.
other than that, to keep it on a positive side, despite the high price of the helicopter transport service, it is certainly commendable to see this idea coming true after more than 2 years of endeavors. all glories to the management, and even more glories if they continue to endeavor to bring more convenient airplane service to the masses of devotees.
such service, achieved by 8 to 12 seater aircraft flying 25 mins from Kolkatta, can cost up to 30-35 euro per passenger. but some capital investment is required in order to build the runway and purchase or lease the aircraft…
It sounds attractive, even at the price of 35 Euro per passenger, to come from Kolkata straight to Mayapur in 25 minutes instead of enduring a lengthy and dangerous car ride. I assume one has to round up 8 or so passengers before the helicopter will be willing to go, but during festival times there might be regular service several times a day at least.
I wonder, though, whether the helicopter will cause a lot of noise and disturb those who never use it? Will it be the cause of some resentment and criticism of those who do?
Also, I assume the pilots will be highly-trained professionals and that the flight will be safe. One of the main reasons I would consider taking the helicopter is that there are so many car crashes. If there are also helicopter crashes it sort of defeats the purpose. A helicopter crash is probably even more dangerous than a car crash. But I am thinking that the pilots must be very good.