Airlines want airports to upgrade systems

Taking a cue from the Sao Paulo airline tragedy, the domestic airlines have asked airport authorities to provide runway visual range (RVR) system at all international airports during monsoon and to set up alternative bases as operations at certain airports get heavily disrupted during the rains.

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), a platform of domestic carriers, in its submission on "Safety of flight operations in India during the monsoons", said RVR system must be installed on all operational runways to avert untoward incidents.

RVR system is an automated computer-controlled visibility measurement and monitoring system used in foreign countries.

For instance, since Mumbai airport's runway number 14 has no RVR, operations on runway no 9 were hit during the last deluge.

The recommendations follow the July 2007 Sao Paulo incident involving the Brazilian passenger plane that skidded off the runway and slammed into a cargo terminal, killing 199 people.

The FIA paper says that the wet runway conditions that may have been largely responsible for the incident, seem to bear close resemblance to conditions at Indian runways during the monsoon period.

"It is obligatory on the part of airport operators to thoroughly inspect the runway and taxiways immediately before the monsoon or during the dry spell. With the present technology, the airport authorities should be able to identify the weak spots well before the monsoons. The closure of main runway in Mumbai airport during the peak period of monsoon to cover the potholes can be avoided," it said.

Commenting on the report, professional pilots' body Indian Airlines Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) general secretary R S Otal said bodies such as the FIA should seek opinion of ICPA for these submissions.