Pawan Hans Limited (PHL) is a transport service operated as a central public sector undertaking based at

Noida Noida (), short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (ISO: ), is a city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. As per provisional reports of Census of India, the population of Noida in 2011 was ...

Delhi NCR The National Capital Region (NCR; ) is a region centred upon the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi in India. It encompasses Delhi and several districts surrounding it from the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The NCR and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is a Mini Ratna-I category PSU under the

ownership Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as '' title'', which may be separated and held by dif ...

of Ministry of Civil Aviation of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. It has cumulatively flown more than 1 million hours and has had 2.5 million landings on its fleet since its formation. The registered office is located in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. The corporate headquarter is located at Sector-1 in

with regional office at

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

. The operations are based at the

Juhu Aerodrome Juhu Aerodrome is located in Juhu, an upmarket residential suburb of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is served primarily by general aviation aircraft and helicopters. Page 52 It was founded in 1928 as one of India's first civil aviation airpo ...

Vile Parle Vile Parle (, also known as Parla), is a suburb and also the name of the railway station in the Western suburb of Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state o ...

(West),

. It is the country's one and only government-owned-helicopter service provider with the objective of providing helicopter support services to the oil sector for its off-shore exploration operations, services in remote areas and charter services for promotion of tourism.

History

Pawan Hans Limited (PHL) was incorporated on 15 October 1985 as the Helicopter Corporation of India (HCI). It commenced its operations on 1 November 1985 with 2 British Westland helicopters and later acquired 21 more helicopters. Union government had 78.5%

and 21.5% with ONGC. The name was changed to Pawan Hans Ltd in August 1986. In 1986/87, PHL started operating in

Andaman and Nicobar islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

and

Lakshadweep islands Lakshadweep () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Amindivi Islands in the north, the Laccadive Islands (separated from Amindivi roughly by the 11th parallel north), and ...

. During 1987, the technical and structural problem, which plagued the PHL from the beginning, started increasing and some 9 Westland and 7 Dauphins were grounded.

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

gave a loan of helicopters to Phl. In 1988/89, multiple crashes got PHL into serious troubles and forced PHL to withdraw all helicopter services except ONGC. However PHL still managed to deliver 3 Helicopter Mail Service though in late 1988 HMS was also withdrawn. In 1997, Pawan Hans Helicopter Ltd and Pawan Hans Pilots' Guild reached a settlement over several worker conditions. In 2001, A.P.J. Kalam who at that time was

Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India The Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) is the chief advisor to the Government of India on matters related to scientific policy. It is currently a Cabinet Secretary level position created in 1999 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. The first ap ...

barely escaped when the rotor of a helicopter carrying him broke down, bringing down the chopper belonging to PHL. In July 2002, PHL was awarded Quality Summit International Award in the Gold Category in New York for its excellence, quality and corporate achievement by Business Initiative Directions (BID),

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. On 16 May 2003, PHL started its

Kedarnath Kedarnath is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, India, known primarily for the Kedarnath Temple. It is approximately 86.5 kilometres from Rudraprayag, the district headquarters. Kedarnath is the most remote ...

operations with five-seater Bell-407 helicopter. On 26 August 2004, PHL signed a MOU with Uttaranchal government's Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd to promote tourism in state. In 2007, PHL started a 10 person project to upgrade skills of their aeronautical engineer so to make them pilots as to fight shortage of pilots. On 15 Feb 2008, PHL and

signed Memorandum of Understanding. The MOU enabled IAF helicopter pilots which were nearing the retirement age to be inducted into PHL. In 2008, PHI gave Dauphin N-3 helicopters to state anti-naxal operation cell as to counter Maoist insurgency in

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the west Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Forming the eastern part of the state, it comprises Amravati Division, Amrav ...

District. In 2010, ONGC has upped its stake to 49%, a move that will saw the equity base of PHL being enhanced to 245 crores from the existing 113 crores. On 27 December 2010, seaplane services were operationalized in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as per MOU signed between Andaman and Nicobar Administration and PHL. The service began with an eight-seater Cessna 208A Amphibian seaplane named Jal Hans will be used by PHHL to ferry tourists between

Port Blair Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...

and Havelock Island in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. This was the first introduction of seaplanes in India. On 29 April 2011, a Pawan Hans AS350 B-3 helicopter carrying Dorjee Khandu, the Chief Minister of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

, and four other people went missing. It was traced four days later near Lobthang. All 5 people were found dead. After this incident Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh suspended PHI services. As of January 2017, the partially

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

owned helicopter service provider had a net worth of 3,701.5 crores and paid-up equity share capital was 245.61 crores. Pawan Hans is an "Approved Maintenance Centre of Eurocopter" and also the first

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of international standards for quality management systems. It was developed in March 1987 by International Organization for Standardization. The goal of these standards is to help organizations ensure that they meet ...

: 2000 certified aviation company in India. On 12 January 2017, the

approved the privatization of Pawan Hans. In July 2020, first helicopter service by PHL in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

started operating under UDAN-RCS scheme. On 3 July 2023, the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) scrapped the strategic

disinvestment Disinvestment refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change. The term was first used in the 1980s, most commonly in ...

after it disqualified the successful bidder Star 9 Mobility Pvt Ltd, a consortium of three companies Maharaja Aviation Pvt, Big Charter Pvt, led by Almas Global Opportunity Fund. The consortium had placed a winning bid of ₹211.14 crore in 2021.

Services

PHL provides helicopter services to

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking which is the largest government-owned oil and gas explorer and producer in the country. It accounts for around 70 percent of India's domestic pro ...

(ONGC) to its off-shore locations as well as NTPC, GAIL, GSPC and Oil India. This government-owned-helicopter service provider is often engaged in providing services to various state governments in India, particularly in

North-east India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, M ...

, namely

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

. PHL also gives services to Ministry of Home Affairs. It provides 4 Dauphin helicopters to

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

for inter-island transportation, and provides 2 Dauphin helicopters to Lakshadweep Administration for ferrying people from Islands to

Cochin International Airport Cochin International Airport , popularly known as Kochi International Airport or Nedumbassery Airport, is an international airport serving the city of Kochi, Kerala, in southwestern India. It is located at Nedumbassery, about northeast of th ...

and for evacuation of patients to

Kavaratti Kavaratti (, ) is the capital of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India. Kavaratti is a census town as well as the name of the atoll upon which the town stands. It is well known for its pristine white sand beaches and calm lagoons, which m ...

/Aggati and mainland. These helicopters are considered as the backbone of

Lakshadweep Lakshadweep () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Amindivi Islands in the north, the Laccadive Islands (separated from Amindivi roughly by the 11th parallel north), and th ...

and Minicoy Islands. PHL runs helicopter services from Phata to the

Kedarnath Temple Kēdāranātha Temple (Sanskrit: केदारनाथ मंदिर, IAST: ''Kēdāranātha Mandira'', ) is a Hindu temple, one of the twelve ''jyotirlinga'' of Śiva. The temple is located on the Garhwal Himalayan range near the Manda ...

during yatra seasons i.e., May-June and September-October every year. And also provides service for

Amarnath Temple Amarnath Temple is a Hindu shrine located in the Pahalgam tehsil of the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is a cave situated at an altitude of , about 168 km from Anantnag, Anantnag cit ...

from Rudraprayag. It also runs

Vaishno Devi Vaishno Devi (also known as Mata Rani, Trikuta, Ambe and Vaishnavi) is a manifestation of the Hindu mother goddess. She is worshipped as a combined avatar of the goddesses Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, and Mahasarasvati. Origin Purāṇa In t ...

helicopter service. PHL has emerged as Asia's one of the largest helicopter operators with a own operational fleet of 43 helicopters. Pawan Hans offers helicopter services for: * Off-Shore operations * Inter-island transportation * Connecting inaccessible areas * Heli-Pilgrimage Tourism * Training & Skill Development * Customs and pipeline surveillance * Casualty and rescue work * Charter services * Joy Rides * VIP transportation * Film shooting and aerial photography * Flower dropping and other * Customised services. * Heliport Services * MRO Services * HEMS

Destinations

Pawan Hans flies to various points in the states of

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

(U.T.)

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, and also to MHA Guwahati in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. While

state is suspended, it resumed its service on 26 July 2012.

Mukul Sangma Mukul Manda Sangma (born 20 April 1965) is an Indian politician and physician who was the 11th Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 2010 to 2018 and is currently leader of the opposition in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly since July 2024.Sangma al ...

, the chief minister of

, took a personal ride in the helicopter to check if it is resumable or not. ;

Itanagar Itanagar () is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The seat of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, the seat of government of Arunachal Pradesh, and the seat of Gauhati High Court permanent bench at Nahar ...

(Helicopter) * Naharlagun (Helicopter) * Tawang Town (Helicopter) ;

–

Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport , or Guwahati Airport, is an international airport serving the List of cities in Assam, largest city of Assam and the capital of the state within it, Guwahati and Dispur, in India. It is the pri ...

;

* Chandigarh Airport (Helicopter) ; Jammu and Kashmir * Katra (Helicopter) * Vaishno Devi Temple (Helicopter) ;

–

(HUB) (Offshore operation) ;

Aizawl Aizawl (, American English, US: , British English, UK: ; Mizo language, Mizo: ), formerly known as Aijal, is the capital city and the most populous city of Mizoram, India. It is also the third largest city in northeast India. It is situated ato ...

– Lunglei *

– Kolasib *

– Serchhip *

– Champhai *

– Khawzawl *

– Lawngtlai *

– Saiha *

– Chawngte *

– Mamit ;

Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...

– Shillong Airport * Tura (Helicopter) ;

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

– Biju Patnaik International Airport * Paradip (Helicopter) * Jharsuguda *

Brahmapur Brahmapur may refer to the following places: * Brahmaloka, heavenly abode of the Hindu god Brahma * Brahmpur, Bihar, village in Bihar, India * Brahampur, Nepal, municipality ward in Dakneshwori, Nepal * Brahmapur, Odisha, city in Odisha, India * ...

;

* Shimla Airport (Helicopter) ;

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

–

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), also known as Koch Bihar, is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal and it stands on bank of the Torsa river. The city is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. During the British Raj, Cooch Behar was the seat of the ...

* Durgapur –

Asansol Asansol is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the second largest city in West Bengal. It is the 33rd largest urban agglomeration in India by population. Asansol is the district headquarters of Paschim Bardhaman district. Accordi ...

* Durgapur – Haldia *

Siliguri Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...

–

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

–

– Durgapur * including Malda Uttrakhand *

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

– Phata- Shri

– Phata –

(Sessional Charter Services) * Phata- Shri

– Phata (Sessional Passenger Services) * Char Dham Yatra (Shri

, Shri

BadriNath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu holy place, and is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage. It is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage c ...

Gangotri Gangotri is a town and a ''Nagar Panchayat'' (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 99 km from Uttarkashi, the main district headquarter. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bha ...

and Yamnotri) * Dehradun - New Tehri - Srinagar- Gauchar and vice versa

Fleet

The Pawan Hans fleet of 42 helicopters as of April 2021 which includes: It also operates & maintains

HAL Dhruv The HAL Dhruv () is a utility helicopter designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in November 1984. The helicopter first flew in 1992; its development was prolonged due to multiple factors including the Indian Army's requ ...

helicopters belonging to

Hindustan Aeronautics Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian Public sector undertakings in India, public sector aerospace and defence (military), defence company, headquartered in Bengaluru. Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and lar ...

Rohini helicopter owned by PHL, located north west of New Delhi, is first of its kind in country.

Rent

* Pawan Hans also rent a helicopter to Regatta Group.

Jal Hans

Pawan Hans jointly owns Jal Hans, India's first amphibious aircraft service with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Administration.

Accidents and incidents

In 2011, PHHLs operations in the North Eastern States of India came under serious public criticism due to safety issues. After the crash that killed the Chief Minister of

Dorjee Khandu and five others, it operations in the North East region were suspended and DGCA was asked to conduct safety audit of the company. The operations were resumed in January 2013. But yet another accident took place on 4 August 2015 killing 3 people on board, including an IAS officer. * July 1988: A Westland crashed near

killing 5 passengers and two crew members. * August 1988: A Dauphin crashed in sea near Madras killing 8 passengers and two pilots. * Feb 1989: A helicopter crashed near Kohima killing 2 pilots and a technician. * 1 Dec 1989: A helicopter crashed in Juhu airport. * 15 Dec 1989: Helicopter crashed in Ganga near Patna killing 7 people. * May 8, 2001:

education minister Dera Natung died when a Pawan Hans helicopter carrying him from

West Kameng West Kameng (pronounced ) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. It accounts for 8.86% of the total area of the state. The name is derived from the Kameng river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, that flows through the distric ...

crashed due to rough weather. * 30 Sep 2001: Helicopter crashlanded at the airport containing A. P. J. Kalam. No one was hurt. * 6 May 2002: A Pawan Hans Dauphin helicopter carrying eight ONGC personnel crashed into Arabian Sea. All 10 people survived. * 22 Sep 2004: Meghalaya Community and Rural Development Minister Cyprian Sangma, two MLAs and a former Deputy Speaker were killed when a Pawan Hans helicopter A 365N crashed near

. * 26 Sep 2007: A PHI Ambulance helicopter crashed while landing at the Kavaratti helipad. All 3 people on helicopter escaped. * 06 Aug 2010: A Pawan Hans crew member fell to his death at Namsai in

, while trying to close a door of that had flung open during a flight. * 16 Dec 2010: A Pawan Hans Dauphin 365 N3 helicopter crashed barely 30 minutes before it State Industries and Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia at Chandigarh Airport, leaving the pilots injured. * 19 Apr 2011: A Pawan Hans Mil Mi-172 on a flight from

to Tawang, crashed in a gorge and caught fire while trying to land near Tawang. Out of 23 people on board, 17 were killed. * 29 Apr 2011: A Pawan Hans AS350 B-3 helicopter carrying Dorjee Khandu, the Chief Minister of

, and four other people, Tawang to Itanagar went missing. It was traced four days later near Lobthang. All 5 people were found dead. * 29 Dec 2012: A Pawan Hans had to make a emergency landing. It was carrying 6 pilgrims and 1 pilot to Vaishnodevi. No one died but were injured. * 04 Aug 2015: A Pawan Hans Dauphin N3 twin-engined aircraft carrying Tirap Deputy Commissioner Kamlesh Kumar Joshi, a 2010 batch IAS officer, and pilots M S Brar and Rajeev Hoskote crashed killing all its occupants. * 04 Nov 2015: Pawan Hans Helicopter (Aerospatiale Dauphin) employed in offshore oil platform service crashed into the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai. The Helicopter was on night flying practice when the incident happened and was occupied by two pilots only, no passengers were present. Both the pilots perished in the incident. * 13 Jan 2018: Pawan Hans Helicopter crashed into the Arabian Sea Off the coast of Mumbai while ferrying seven people including ONGC personnel. The bodies of the seven people, including five senior ONGC officers, debris from the aircraft was located. * 28 June 2022: Pawan Hans Sikorsky helicopter crashed into the Arabian Sea killing four people, including three ONGC personnel. Five others were rescued.

References

External links

*
Pawan Hans fleet
{{Authority control Aviation in India Companies based in New Delhi Airlines established in 1985 Government-owned companies of India Helicopter airlines Helicopter operators Ministry of Civil Aviation (India) 1985 establishments in Uttar Pradesh Oil and Natural Gas Corporation