The first Naval Air Station, PNS MEHRAN is situated
in Karachi, 10 KM from Quaid-e-Azam International Airport. Seaking
helicopter was the first machine to fly from this Base. Atlantic and
Alouette soon joined the Naval Air Arm. Naval Air Arm was earlier depended upon
Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Army to meet the training requirement
of air and ground crew.
HISTORY
Commissioning Orders for PNS MERHAN was received in the office of
the Commander Pakistan Fleet on the 13 th September 1975. Three ‘D'
Class houses from PNS KARSAZ were taken over on 18 th and thereafter
the MES put in their efforts to prepare the place and surroundings
for housing and commissioning of PNS MEHRAN. The work was completed
on 25 th , a day before PNS MEHRAN was formally commission i.e 26 th
September 1975. PNS MERHAN was commissioned by the Vice Chief
of Naval Staff Rear Admiral L N Mungavan. On the first day strength
of PNS MEHRAN was 08 officers, 04 sailors and no aircraft. Although
Seaking helicopters had been handed over to Pakistan Navy, they were
still in England. The first Commanding Officer was then Captain
S F Rab PN (P No 456). MEHRAN Base, since its inceptions, is efficiently
supporting day and night operational activities of all the squadrons. Despite
facing acute shortage in every sphere, Base has accomplished every
single task assigned.
STATUS & UTILIZATION
Naval Air Arm is headed by Commander Naval Aviation (COMNAV). Under
COMNAV there are four Head of Departments (HODs) namely Commander Air
(Cdr Air), Commander Air Engineering Department (Cdr AED), Commanding
Officer MEHRAN (CO MEH) and Officer Commanding Naval Aviation Training
School (OC NATS).
There are six squadrons under Cdr Air namely P3C Squadron (28 Sqn),
Atlantic Squadron (29 Sqn), Fokker Squadron (27 Sqn), Seaking Squadron
(111 Sqn) and Alouette Squadron (333 Sqn).
All the operational/flying activities of the base are controlled by
Cdr Air through the Officer Commanding of each Squadron. Cdr Air is
further assisted by ops staff working directly under him.
Cdr AED is responsible for the maintenance and technical efficiency
of all the aircraft. Under him, there are various Group Officers (GOs)
who assists him in this duty. Some of the prominent GOs are GO Control,
GO Avionics, GO Aircraft Engineering, GO Ground Engineering and GO
S/R Depott etc.
CO MEHRAN is responsible for providing all the logistic and
administrative support to the aviation units under COMNAV. Under him
is the typical infrastructure of a naval unit which includes EXO, Supply
Officer, Gunnery Officer, Communication Officer etc.
OC NATS is responsible for all sort of aviation
related training of Naval Air Arm. He is assisted by Training Cdr,
Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) Rotary Wing, CFI Fixed wing and Chief
Navigator Instructor (CNI). CFIs and CNI are further assisted by the
Instructor Pilots and Instructor Navigators under them.
Staff Officer (Operations) and Staff Maintenance Officer are responsible
for advising and assisting COMNAV on the matters related to Operations
and Maintenance respectively.
Base Flight Safety Officer is responsible for ensuring that safe flying practices
are being followed by the squadrons. Quality Assurance Officer ensures
that required quality standards are being maintained by the maintainers
and technical departments.
PN Air Arm is one of the three main arms of PN fleet. The existing
inventory of PN Air Arm is as follows:
a. P3C
b. Atlantic
c. Fokker
d. Seaking
e. Alouette
Courses Offered
| Course |
Duration |
|
Sea
survival/Dunker SWET course |
4 weeks |
|
Helicopter
Marshaller course |
1 weeks |
|
Winch operator
course |
|
|
Basic Air
crewmen Course |
10 weeks |
|
Crewmen
instructor course (Allouette Aircraft) |
4 weeks |
|
Crewmen
instructor course (Seaking Aircraft) |
8 weeks |
|
Basic Air
Navigation Course |
26 weeks
+ 60 hours |
|
Seaking Observer
Conversion |
13 weeks +
60 hours |
|
Tactical Coordinator (TACCO) |
12 weeks +
70 hours |
|
Qualified
Helicopter Instructor |
14 weeks +
70 hours |
|
Qualified
Navigation Instructor |
18 weeks +
33 hours |
|
Qualified Observer
Instructor |
24 weeks +
30 hours |
|
Fokker Captain
Course |
24 weeks +
70 hours |
|
Atlantic Captain
Course |
17 weeks +
70 hours |
|
Alouette
Conversion |
24 weeks +
40 hours |
|
Seaking Conversion
|
24 weeks +
55 hours |
|
Basic Flight |
21 weeks
|
|
Helicopter Controller Course |
6 weeks
|
|
FDO Course (Flight Deck Officer) |
1 week
|