On a slippery slope

It is deplorable, the way pilots landing at Indian airports are being increasingly forced to come home on a wing and a prayer. According to a study reported in this paper, there were nine incidents in the last three months of passenger jets skidding off wet runways after landing at various airports. That these statistics come close on the heels of the Tam Airbus crash in Sao Paulo last Wednesday, which killed 200 people, makes them even more disturbing. For heavy rain and inadequate runway length apparently caused the Sao Paulo crash: a chilling reminder of the unsafe runways in use at our own international airfields. It is no secret that most airports here operate under conditions that date back to the time they were built. As a result, airliners often land on slippery runways originally designed to take such aircraft loads only in light rain.
The expansion of Indian aviation has led to a deterioration of infrastructure and an acute shortage of trained hands, which translates into a dilution of standards for pilots and engineers. The violation of norms in flight schools is alarming as they churn out rookie pilots who, with barely a couple of hundred flying hours and a short jet endorsement under their belts, become first officers on high performance jet aircraft.
24/07/07 Hindustan Times

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Categories: Airports Jul 2007, General Aviation Jul 2007, Safety Jul 2007