Panther to shield airport from fire

Calcutta: Calcutta airport is revamping its fire-fighting system by bringing in “state-of-the-art” tenders from Austria.
“Post-upgrade, we will be able to deploy more than one tender if a major fire, like the one in Burrabazar’s Nandaram Market, breaks out in the city,” said an Airports Authority of India (AAI) official.
“We could send only one tender to battle the Nandaram blaze, as sparing more would have compromised the fire-fighting preparedness at the airport,” he added.
The AAI has procured 16 high-speed tenders, called Panther, which could put off an aircraft blaze within a few seconds. Manufactured by Austria-based Rosenbaur, a Panther costs Rs 4 crore.
“Of the 16 Panthers, five are for Calcutta,” a Rosenbaur spokesperson told Metro from Leoning, Austria. Two have reached the airport and the rest are on their way. “The company started manufacturing Panthers last year and 100 have so far been sold to airports across the world.”
09/02/08 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Categories: airports Feb 2008, Safety Feb 2008