Close call for Jet plane at Mumbai

Mumbai: The Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) is investigating how and why a vehicle crossed the main runway at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport barely a minute before a Jet Airways plane landed on Saturday. The incident is being treated as a “runway incursion”.
According to sources, it was an MIAL vehicle, which breached runway 09-27 at the intersection of the airport’s cross-runways.
“The tower controller had asked the jeep to hold short of runway 27. But the vehicle crossed the runway when the Jet Airways flight was on the final approach path, about two nautical miles away. This means the aircraft would have taken a minute to touch down,” a source said.
Sources also said this is extremely dangerous and could have been disastrous since a ‘live runway’ has to be absolutely clear when there is any aircraft movement, and when Air Traffic Control has cleared the aircraft to land or take off.
26/03/07 Lekha Agarwal/Indian Express

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Mar 2007, Jet Airways Mar 2007, Safety Mar 2007