New Delhi, April 17: Worried by a spate of crashes involving small chartered aircraft and helicopters being used to fly politicians for election campaigning, the government today swung into action ordering all small craft to undergo a series of strict checks on their airworthiness.

A top DGCA official said the directorate general has issued a letter to all chartered aviation firms asking them to adhere to undergo the tests and submit reports.

Normally, an aircraft undergoes minor checks — known as first check — after 30 hours. A second check is undertaken after 60 hours and a third more exhaustive one after 90 hours.

Officials said they feared that the checks were not being carried out diligently and reports may have been fudged in a few cases as aircraft charter firms were keen to keep their helicopters and planes flying longer hours to earn the bonanza that the polls had brought for them.

The DGCA order comes in the wake of a crash involving a Cessna craft that caught fire and crashed killing southern screen heroine Soundarya and her brother who were campaigning for the ruling BJP.

About 28-30 helicopters and nearly a dozen small aircraft are in daily use by various political parties and these are being used exhaustively.

Sources said the BJP has rented the lion’s share of these craft —- hiring as many as 18 helicopters and two-three aircraft. The Congress has hired about 5-6 helicopters and 2-3 aircraft.

Beechcraft twin-engined aircraft and Bell Helicopters have proved the most popular in India among politicians. But the paucity of the more popular brands has meant that other fixed wing aircraft like Cessna are also being hired. Helicopters are the costliest to hire coming at Rs 60,000 to Rs 90,000 an hour while fixed-wing aircraft can be hired at between Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 an hour.

“The problem is that because of the elections there is a paucity of helicopters and many politicians are opting for fixed wing aircraft,” said officials.

“In any case both types should be checked properly and we fear that checks are being given the go by.” Age they feel is not the factor hear but proper maintenance.