Four airports in India unsafe during rains: report

Four domestic airports in the country are prone to air disasters this monsoon. An independent air safety panel informed the government last week that flight operations at Goa, Jammu, Patna and Dibrugarh (Assam) are unsafe during the rains. Soubhik Mitra reports.

Four domestic airports in the country are prone to air disasters this monsoon. An independent air safety panel informed the government last week that flight operations at Goa, Jammu, Patna and Dibrugarh (Assam) are unsafe during the rains.

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According to the letter sent by the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council (CASAC) on June 20, the runway length at these airports does not meet international standards. The CASAC factored in inputs such as wet runway surface, tailwind and temperature to revaluate the landing distance during adverse weather.

“The monsoon, this year, appears to be strong. If proactive action is not taken to prevent an accident, we will cut a sorry figure,” said captain Mohan Ranganathan, member, CASAC. The CASAC was formed after the Air India Mangalore crash in 2010.

Based on flight operations studied at Patna, Goa and Jam-mu, earlier this month, the safety panel rapped the aviation safety regulator for overlooking such a critical issue.

“It is strange how flight operation inspectors failed to include this point in the monsoon preparatory training for pilots,” said Ranganthan.

Arun Mishra, chief of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), was not available for comment.