Too unsafe to fly?

An Indian plane, the old generation A 319 aircraft that flies the Kolkata-Mizoram sector, is in the eye of a storm after charges that it puts at risk the hundreds of people who fly in it. This charge that incidentally, comes from a man who has piloted this craft, has put the national carrier on the defensive.
A deputy general manager of Indian has moved Calcutta High Court, seeking an inquiry into the "unsafe operation" of this A-319 aircraft. Captain Hari Shankar Mishra claims that national carrier ‘Indian’ had introduced this aircraft without the most basic Standard Operating Procedure, which is both mandatory and critical.
Mishra goes on to say that the airline has been compromising safety by flying a heavy aircraft like A-319 on such a "dangerous" route.
The Kolkata-Lengpui sector is difficult to negotiate and the weather and terrain means that heavy aircraft should not be flown here. Though the airline is adamant to fight this case, the fact is that even the pilots’ association in Indian has refused to fly this route, and that is a telling sign. IA is managing to keep the service on using some of their own pilots.
16/05/07 Sambit Pal/Times Now.tv

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Categories: Indian May 2007, Safety May 2007