Quality Maintenance in Focus

On April 24, Captain R.N. Joshi, pilot of Anil Ambani’s helicopter filed a complaint with the Sahar Police Station alleging that there was an attempt to sabotage the 13-seat Bell 412 helicopter owned by the high flying Chairman of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) whose net-worth is estimated to exceed $10 billion (Rs 50,000 crore). Ambani uses the chopper on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays to commute to his office at the Reliance Communications headquarters in Navi Mumbai.

The helicopter is registered with Reliance Transport & Travel Private Limited (RTT). Air Works Indian Engineering Private Limited (AWEPL), a 58-yearold Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) company located at Mumbai airport, has been contracted by RTT for the maintenance of the helicopter. AWEPL is engaged in providing maintenance support to both fixed and rotary wing aircraft in the regime of General Aviation.

Afternoon of Thursday, April 23, the aircraft was being put through a routine maintenance check at the MRO hangar in Kalina, when 47-year-old Bharat Borge, a senior technician of AWEPL, observed that the cap of the gear box oil tank was not properly fitted. While refitting the cap, Borge noticed mud in the filler neck. Further inspection revealed that the oil in the tank was in fact contaminated with mud, gravel and even pebbles. Ambani, together with nine executives of Reliance Infocomm, was scheduled to fly in the twin engine Bell 412 from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai the next day. Albeit a short flight lasting just about 15 minutes, contamination of the gear box oil could well have led to serious malfunction of the gear box in flight, with disastrous consequences for the helicopter and its occupants.

Only four persons had authorised access to Ambani’s workhorse, and Borge was one of them. He lodged the first formal complaint with the Santa Cruz Airport police station on the evening of April 23 after the alarming discovery of the attempt at sabotage. Soon, innumerable theories alluding to the motive started emanating from different quarters. While ADAG saw a wider conspiracy and an attempt by rivals to eliminate the 49-year-old head of a multi-national business empire, hypotheses by the police ranged from mere mischief by ordinary miscreants to an attempt to discredit the management of Air Works by the staff in the on-going internal dispute.

However, the fact that only one out of the eight helicopters parked at the hangar had been tampered with indicates that Ambani was possibly the target. Besides, the simple methodology employed suggests that the culprits were technologically knowledgeable about helicopters, implementing an effortless plan that provided a very high probability of bringing down the machine in the next flight. The only piece of evidence that militates against this belief is that the miscreants did not replace the cap and restore the seal, which a seasoned saboteur would surely have done. As such this could be the handiwork of amateurs, suggesting the possibility of involvement of the less experienced staff. There was also a possibility that the helicopter could have come down while flying without passengers to position at the Mahalaxmi Helipad for Ambani and party to board. In which case, the VIP passenger might not have been affected.

Meanwhile, Borge’s sudden death under highly mysterious circumstances has turned the situation murkier. Suicide or murder—whatever be the case, the episode will only add an unpleasant chapter to AWEPL’s troubles. Dealing a blow to the reputation of AWEPL, the attempt at sabotage reveals glaring institutional weaknesses in the area of safety in maintenance procedures and the lack of stringent checks and balances. While the role played by Borge in preventing the disaster needs to be lauded, and the AWEPL can take credit for preventing the disaster, the discovery of the misdeed was merely a matter of chance. The contamination could well have gone unnoticed with the flight ending in a tragedy. The incident has undoubtedly galvanised the management of AWEPL into action and a host of measures have been initiated to ensure that there is no recurrence. The silver lining in the dark cloud is clearly the fact that finally attention is now focused on the critical importance of maintenance safety far behind the flight line.