High-flyers feel grounded

Businessman Arpan Turakhia has been flying in and out of Mumbai almost twice a week for over four years.
Strangely, despite being such a frequent flyer, these days he feels a trifle nervous collecting his boarding pass. “It’s a bit scary to read about near-misses and close shaves every other day,” he confesses.
Arpan’s fears are not unfounded. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel told the Lok Sabha in February last year that the number of near-misses over Indian skies went up by a whopping 40 per cent in 2005 over the previous year.
While 21 such incidents were reported in 2005, only 13 near misses took place in 2004. Patel clarified that only two of the 21 incidents in 2005 had a “risk of collision”.
Indian airports recorded a 34.1 per cent rise in domestic travellers in August this year over the same period last year.
But frequent flyers insist that there is no proportionate upgradation of infrastructure. “There are limited runways and the facilities for passengers are limited, even as the number of airlines has gone up,” Arpan says.
Aviation officials dismiss such reports as ‘alarmist’ and insist there is no reason to worry. Passengers, though, are not easily convinced.
13/12/07 Salil Deshpande & Ameya Bhise/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: General Aviation Dec 2007, Safety Dec 2007