Flights unable to use full length of main runway

Flights taking off from the main runway at the Mumbai airport will not be able to use the full length of the airstrip, as the airport operator has not set a deadline to rebuild a portion of the jet blast deflector (safety fence) found broken on Monday.

Flights taking off from the main runway at the Mumbai airport will not be able to use the full length of the airstrip, as the airport operator has not set a deadline to rebuild a portion of the jet blast deflector (safety fence) found broken on Monday.

HT Image

The fence protects airfield workers and hutment dwellers living along the airport boundary from jet blasts — a hot draft of air and dust released at a speed of around 160 km per hour by an aircraft engine before take-off.

Although flight movement out of the main runway was normal on Tuesday, pilots could use only 2965 metres of the 3445-metre-long runway.

Officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) inspected the airfield to assess the damage. “A fat portion of the fence was uprooted and a few antennas of a ground-based navigational aid were damaged,” said a senior DGCA official, requesting anonymity. “Either the fence gave way due to poor maintenance or an aircraft taking off in the wee hours breached the distance it ought to maintain from the fence.”

Flights taking off from the main runway have to maintain a distance of 200 metres from the blast fence. DGCA officials will question airfield staff and also talk to airlines operating scheduled departures during the wee hours of Monday.

“According to the safety protocol, airlines are supposed to cut down on cargo loads or passenger bookings when the runway length is reduced,” said the official. However, Air India and Jet Airways spokespersons said they had not made any changes to their payloads.