A chartered helicopter flew over the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) and the protected Mukurthi National Park, carrying VIP guests from a major private company on December 27. Since no permission had been granted for this, the T.N. Forest Department has now begun an investigation into the incident.
The Bell 429 GlobalRanger, took off from Mysuru on December 27 and flew over the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) before flying up the precarious O’Valley ridge, past the Mukurthi Peak and Lake, crossed into Porthimund and skirted around Avalanche before landing at the Korakundah Estate adjoining the Mukurthi National Park, which is closed to tourists and can only be accessed with permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden and the Conservator of Forests (Nilgiris).
The helicopter was registered to ‘Chemplast Sanmar.’ Officials from the Coimbatore International Airport confirmed that the helicopter subsequently took off from the Korakundah Estate and landed at the Coimbatore International Airport.
According to experts who tracked the flight path of the aircraft using open-source data, the pilot of the helicopter switched off the transponder while ascending the extremely perilous O’Valley ridge, which is illegal. “The pilot switches off the transponder as soon as he enters Tamil Nadu and only switches it back on once they cross Mukurthi. This is a clear violation of the rules of the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and the pilot as well as the people responsible for organising this flight should be severely punished,” said the expert, who flagged the illegal helicopter ride.
The Mudumalai Tiger Reserve as well as the Mukurthi National Park are extremely ecologically fragile, and are home to rare and endangered species of wildlife, including the Nilgiri Tahr, which could easily get spooked by aircraft flying overhead, said conservationists.
When contacted, a top official from the T.N. Forest Department said they had not accorded any permission for the aircraft to fly over MTR or Mukurthi.
D. Venkatesh, Field Director of MTR, said that the flight operators had not shared any data of the flight plan over MTR or Mukurthi. “We have to find out whether they have received permission from anyone to fly over Mukurthi, and on what basis the permission was granted. We are currently investigating the incident,” said Mr. Venkatesh.
Experts said that it was also strange that the flight logs do not record the destination from Mysuru to Korakundah, and said that ascending the steep escarpments of Mukurthi are a significant risk for helicopters. “Due to the inaccessibility of the terrain, a crash in this landscape could prove to be disastrous, as reaching any prospective site itself could prove to be almost impossible for first responders, especially as the Forest Fepartment doesn’t seem to have been intimated. Added to this, the fact that the transponder was also switched off should raise questions as to who permitted the operation of this flight,” an expert said.
