Two planes on one runway lay bare safety risk
Ayyappan.V@timesgroup.com
Chennai: The incident in which two flights came on the same runway at the Chennai airport on Thursday pointsto the serious safety risk involvedin cross-runwayor simultaneous use of main runway and second runway operations at the airport.
A Chennai-Pune IndiGo flight, on thetake-off roll, had to abort soon after spotting a small plane on the same runway. The aircraft were facing one another at a distance on the same strip.
The Coast Guard plane which had landed on the main runway was told to taxi to its hangar located by the side of the second runway but controllers missed the point that it would have to cross the take-off path of the IndiGo plane getting ready to fly from the same runway. The controllers did not inform the Coast Guard plane to halt before crossing the second runway which was cleared for another flight for take-off.
Sources said the airport does not have enough traffic to have cross-runway operations but still the procedure, discouraged abroad for safety risk, is being practised in Chennai. A source said on an average the airport receives 26 flights in an hour. “The numbers go up to 29 on certain days. After a rapid exit taxiway was opened, the airport was able to handle 36 flights in an hour using only the main runway. This has been certified and declared that a single runway operation can handle36flightsin an hour. In spite of this, AAI has been pushing for cross-runway operation in the hope that more flights can be handled. This is causing stress and confusion among air traffic controllers,” the source said.
An official said the airport does not require simultaneous use of both runways to boost aircraft-handling capacity. He added that the cross runway operations were causing unnecessary stress among air traffic controllers leading tosafety risks. “In Mumbai, cross-runway operations were stopped after there were incidents in which flights came in the way of one another in 2008. In spite of the risks, AAI is looking to have the same procedure in Chennai,” he added.
However, airport officials said the idea was to keep air traffic controllers equipped to handle any situation to boost aircraft-handling capacity at airports if there was a need in the future.
“In Chennai, there is no guarantee that another airport will be started to meet the growing demands. So we want the ATC staff to handle additional flights. This was the reason we wanted crossrunway operations in Chennai,” said an official.
Ayyappan.V@timesgroup.com
Chennai: The incident in which two flights came on the same runway at the Chennai airport on Thursday pointsto the serious safety risk involvedin cross-runwayor simultaneous use of main runway and second runway operations at the airport.
A Chennai-Pune IndiGo flight, on thetake-off roll, had to abort soon after spotting a small plane on the same runway. The aircraft were facing one another at a distance on the same strip.
The Coast Guard plane which had landed on the main runway was told to taxi to its hangar located by the side of the second runway but controllers missed the point that it would have to cross the take-off path of the IndiGo plane getting ready to fly from the same runway. The controllers did not inform the Coast Guard plane to halt before crossing the second runway which was cleared for another flight for take-off.
Sources said the airport does not have enough traffic to have cross-runway operations but still the procedure, discouraged abroad for safety risk, is being practised in Chennai. A source said on an average the airport receives 26 flights in an hour. “The numbers go up to 29 on certain days. After a rapid exit taxiway was opened, the airport was able to handle 36 flights in an hour using only the main runway. This has been certified and declared that a single runway operation can handle36flightsin an hour. In spite of this, AAI has been pushing for cross-runway operation in the hope that more flights can be handled. This is causing stress and confusion among air traffic controllers,” the source said.
An official said the airport does not require simultaneous use of both runways to boost aircraft-handling capacity. He added that the cross runway operations were causing unnecessary stress among air traffic controllers leading tosafety risks. “In Mumbai, cross-runway operations were stopped after there were incidents in which flights came in the way of one another in 2008. In spite of the risks, AAI is looking to have the same procedure in Chennai,” he added.
However, airport officials said the idea was to keep air traffic controllers equipped to handle any situation to boost aircraft-handling capacity at airports if there was a need in the future.
“In Chennai, there is no guarantee that another airport will be started to meet the growing demands. So we want the ATC staff to handle additional flights. This was the reason we wanted crossrunway operations in Chennai,” said an official.
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