The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Medical Evaluation Centre for civilian pilots soon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 01, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Medical Evaluation Centre for civilian pilots soon

Staff Reporter

It will give pilots one more facility to complete their crucial fitness test

Aerospace power has expanded strategic boundaries of nations: Air Chief
‘Military aviation has become more
challenging’

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Exchanging ideas: Chief of the Air Staff F.H. Major (right) with G.R. Gopinath, Executive Chairman of Deccan, at the 47th annual conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine in Bangalore on Wednesday.

BANGALORE: Emphasising the need for aviation medicine to be expanded to cover civil aviation needs, Chief of the Air Staff F.H. Major on Wednesday said a new Medical Evaluation Centre was being set up at the Air India complex in Mumbai for commercial pilots.

To be headed by an Indian Air Force (IAF) person, the centre will give pilots one more facility to complete their crucial fitness test. Earlier, civilian pilots had to depend only on the Institute of Aviation Medicine (IAM) in Bangalore and similar centres in Delhi and Jorhat in Assam for their medical evaluation.

The Air Chief was in the city to inaugurate the 47th annual conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine.

Speed and mobility

Aerospace power, he said, had expanded the strategic boundaries of nations.

This in turn had increased the need for speed and mobility of response and precision targeting. The war machines had increasingly become more potent and extremely manoeuvrable. In this scenario, aviation medicine specialists had to relate to the aviators themselves, he said.

The Air Chief said military aviation had become considerably more challenging.

The IAF, with its acquisition of more technologically savvy aircraft, was faced with problems such as spatial disorientation, loneliness of pilots during long duration flights, boredom, drowsiness, hydration and other issues related to in-flight nutrition. Since long duration flights would also mean periods of intense activity, the need to maintain mental alertness was paramount, according to Air Chief Marshal Major.

He said medical support to military operations was as vital as the operations themselves.

“Our pilots are now learning the nuances of such flights. The aircrew should acquire specialised knowledge of human physiology. The intangible psychological factors need to be recognised,” he observed. The Air Chief said the arena of space too was slowly getting into the sphere of aviation medicine.

The IAM, he said, was already in touch with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the manned space mission. “The IAM has chartered out a roadmap for aero-medical support for such flights,” he said.

Deccan Executive Chairman G.R. Gopinath, in his keynote address, said the problems of alienation in the country could be best addressed through better air connectivity.

He then went on to trace the history of the airline, the initial struggles and its eventual transformation as a low-cost airline which gave the common man a chance to fly. Air tickets which were once beyond the dreams of the average consumer were made accessible, he said.

Commenting on the huge potential for aviation growth in the country, he drew attention to the vast number of unused airfields. Bellary, for instance, had four airfields three of which were lying unused for the last four decades.

On the significance of air safety and aviation medicine in the civil aviation sector, Capt. Gopinath reiterated the need for more centres for aircrew fitness evaluation.

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