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Flight operations at Kozhikode may be curtailed over land issue
Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia wrote to the state government in this context on Monday
Large aircraft such as A321s and B737s may no longer be allowed to use the Kozhikode airport from August 1, with the civil aviation ministry giving an ultimatum to the Kerala government on the transfer of land that will be used to extend the current runway.
Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia wrote to the state government in this context on Monday. The letter points out that while the state and the Airports Authority of India had agreed that the former would provide the land free by the first week of July, and that the latter would bear the cost of levelling, there has been a “lack of prompt actions” from the state government. The ultimatum would appear to be directed at ensuring the state sticks to the July deadline.
The issue has to do with the runway end safety area, or RESA, the area at the end of the runway that acts as a buffer and prevents loss of lives and damage to the aircraft in case it overshoots or undershoots the landing strip.
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Following an August 7, 2020 crash at the airport that resulted in the death of 21 passengers after an Air India Express Boeing 737 plane overshot the runway, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which pinpointed pilot error as the cause, recommended the creation of RESA.
In his letter to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Scindia wrote: “... the lack of prompt actions from the state government leaves us with no recourse. Given the fact that provisioning of RESA (runway end safety area) would take approximately three years after the land is handed over to AAI (Airports Authority of India), for the safety and well-being of all passengers, the ministry is left with no choice but to proceed with the necessary action of curtailing the runway length for the safe aircraft operation at Calicut airport from 01.08.2023 unless the land is handed over to AAI immediately.”
This basically means the length of the runway will be shortened, thereby creating a buffer, although this will not allow bigger aircraft to use the airport.
“It is the decision which is ten years late but it is a must for the safety of passengers and the aircraft,” said Mohan Ranganathan, former instructor pilot of Boeing 737 specialising in wet runway operations training.
Scindia said that the safety of passengers is being gravely compromised due to the non-provision of RESA, as explicitly recommended by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
On August 7, 2020, an Air India Express Boeing-737 plane repatriating Indians stranded in Dubai on account of the pandemic overshot the runway in heavy rain and crashed.
The aircraft, with 184 passengers skidded off the table-top runway and broke into two parts after crashing nose-first into the ground. It was the deadliest commercial aviation disaster in the country in 10 years. In its crash report, AAIB said stated the probable cause of the accident to be non-adherence to the standard operating procedure, including landing “beyond the touchdown zone” by the pilot flying the aircraft..
A tabletop runway is an airport that is located on the top of a plateau or hill and the end of the runway typically overlooks a deep gorge. These are always difficult from the perspective of landing and take-off because of the restricted space.
Scindia said that the state government in April, 2022, agreed to acquire the additional land required for RESA clearance on both sides of the runway and provide it for free to AAI.
‘.. the State Government requested AAI (Airports Authority of India) to review the requirement as some significant structures were falling within the land proposed for acquisition for the RESA on Runway-10 side. The request of SG (state government) was accommodated by AAI and consequently the revised land requirement of 14.5 acre (7 Acre on Runway-10 side and 7.5 Acre on Runway-28 side) was projected to the state government.” His letter also added that the costs involved in preparing the land were discussed.
‘...Government of Kerala vide letter dated 01.08.2022 expressed its willingness to undertake the levelling of land on behalf of AAI provided AAI bears the cost of Rs.100-150 crore. As a special dispensation, this request of the state government was also accommodated and AAI agreed to bear the cost of levelling and stabilizing the land for the provision of required RESA.”
He pointed out that the ministry has s followed the state government to confirm the transfer of land for the required RESA through letters on August 12, 2022, September 1 , 20, and 21 and October 31.
“ It was also conveyed that if there is no positive response from the state government, we will have no choice but to curtail the runway length. The state government has also indicated vide its letter dated 19.01.2023 that notification for acquisition of land has been issued and the required land will be made available by first week of July, 2023,” the letter read.
A tabletop runway is an airport which is located on the top of a plateau or hill and the end of the runway overlooks a deep gorge. The tabletop runways in the country currently include Kozhikode in Kerala, Mangalore in Karnakata, Shimla and Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, Lengpui airport in Mizoram and Pakyong in Sikkim.
These runways have restricted space and hence landings and take-offs are most critical period for the flights from these airports.
One of the challenges of a tabletop runway is that they have limited RESA and hence have no room for errors during landing. Experts say that the table top runways create optical illusion for pilots, thus making the landings tricky.
The runway length is currently 2850m.
The AAIB report released on September 2021 stated the probable cause of the accident to be non-adherence to the standard operating procedure by the pilot flying the aircraft. It also noted the role of systemic failures as a contributory factor that could not be overlooked.
The airport is the third busiest airport in Kerala and sees airlines like Air India Express, SpiceJet Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Air Arabia, Etihad Airways, Fly Dubai amongst operating to/ from the airport.
