Cut space between planes

New Delhi A committee led by former civil aviation secretary Ajay Prasad, which submitted its recommendations recently to the civil aviation ministry, has recommended reduction of separation in distance between two aircraft over Delhi and Mumbai to just three nautical miles while landing, from the current six to eight nautical miles. The committee, which studied a host of issues, including air traffic management, recommended measures to reduce the air traffic congestion over the Delhi and Mumbai airports.
"The radar installed at Delhi and Mumbai have excellent capability and if a separation of three nautical miles is used then the capacity can be enhanced considerably.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) document 4444, which deals with the procedures for air traffic management and is a Bible on the subject, permits a normal radar separation of five nautical miles between the aircraft and can be reduced to three nautical miles when radar capabilities permit," the report has stated.
"It may not be out of place to mention that document 4444 even permits a separation up to 2.5 nautical miles between succeeding aircraft ...," the report has stated.
05/04/08 SridhaR Kumaraswami/Howrah News Service

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Categories: Airports Apr 2008, Safety Apr 2008