Airports, carriers give security go by to cut costs

New Delhi: This one instance shows how cash-strapped airlines are going to any extent to avoid extra costs. An Airbus A-319 leased from Europe by a leading Indian airline had been flying for a while here on domestic routes with all its safety signages written on the aircraft body in French.
Which meant, in emergency condition knowing French would have helped identifying the emergency exit as this was written in that language.
This discovery - a violation of Indian flying safety rules - was among the many things Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) teams found out when they fanned across 12 airports in the country two weeks ago.
The team found that markings at many runways and taxiways had faded so much that they would be of little use to pilots steering planes on them.
Among the airports where such faded marking were found were Ahmedabad, Cochin and Guwahati. "What adds to the danger is that at many places ground handling equipment was kept in trolleys without brakes that can easily move and hit planes or personnel when strong winds blow," said an official.
In addition, the rule of all personnel working on the airside wearing luminous striped jackets was also being flouted at many places.
The DGCA discovered that some pilots - both Indian and expats - were not carrying with them the required licences with updated medical records.
27/06/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Safety Jun 2008