Busy skies fuel fears of mid-air collision

Calcutta: Over the past 15 months, there could have been at least eight mid-air collisions over Calcutta, according to the directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA). That is, eight pairs of planes came within 2,000 feet of each other in air, which constitutes a near-miss in aviation terminology.
Aircraft are equipped with an Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which alerts pilots if another plane comes within 40 nautical miles, but that does not rule out a mishap.
At busier airports, like those in Delhi and Mumbai, on an average, two mid-air collisions are averted every month, said a DGCA official.
Rise in the number of flights (in and out of the city and those flying over it), shortage of Air Traffic Control (ATC) officers and communication problems are behind the mid-air near-misses, stated ATC sources.
According to aviation safety experts, near-misses generally occur due to human error. “A communication gap between ATC officers and pilots are the most common cause of a near-miss,” explained an expert. “In many cases, the officer says something that the pilot does not understand or vice versa.”
A DGCA official echoed him: “Some of the pilots don’t know English well. This results in major problems.”
The air traffic has gone up steadily, with 700 planes flying over Calcutta and 190 taking off and landing at the airport every day. The number of ATC officers, however, has remai-ned almost constant. There are about 130 ATC officers in Calcutta, but at least 300 are needed, said airport sources.
16/04/07 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Apr 2007, Safety Apr 2007