'Our flights are like killer Bluelines'

Mumbai: Tuesday's plane crash in Brazil in which at least 186 people were killed has brought flight safety back into focus.
The airlines insist they take enough safeguards to operate flights as per norms set by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and that the fears are unfounded. But experienced pilots and aviation experts say the mindless growth of aviation — with no proper infrastructure and no enforcement of laws — has grossly compromised air safety norms.
"The current state of Indian aviation is just like Delhi's Blueline bus service. You allowed them to operate without enforcement by the police and they killed people on the road. You stopped them, you earned the wrath of passengers," said a senior commander on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the press.
He said the current situation was a direct outcome of the government allowing the arbitrary import of aircraft without strengthening law enforcement agencies.
"It's a miracle we don't have mid-air crashes. The deregulation has caused heavy congestion in the air and Air Traffic Control (ATC) is unable to handle the pressure. Then you have the language problem of expat pilots. The shortage of pilots has prompted airlines to hire anybody. And with nobody to conduct flight safety audits, you are bound to have accidents," he added.
"The pressure is so much at the ATC tower that sometimes, it is difficult to repeat the message. Even if 15 aircraft land at an airport in an hour, ATCs communicate at least four times with each of them before they finally land," said an air traffic controller.
20/07/07 Lalatendu Mishra/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Airports Jul 2007, Safety Jul 2007