Jackal trio force aircraft to remain airborne

Calcutta: The jackals were noticed by the pilot of an Air India flight from Guwahati that landed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at 12.51pm. The pilot saw the animals while he was taking the aircraft to the parking bay and immediately informed air traffic control (ATC).
An Alliance Air flight from Silchar, with 44 passengers on board, approached ATC for landing at 12.53pm. “ATC asked the pilot to go around and guards were rushed to the runway in a jeep to shoo away the jackals. The runway was cleared in around 10 minutes,” an airport official said.
The aircraft hovered for more than 30 minutes, burning 250 litres of air turbine fuel worth Rs 20,000, before it could finally land around 1.30pm. Some other flights landed before it.
“Once an aircraft is asked to go around, it has to follow the orbit and come behind other flights that are lined up for landing,” an official explained.
Following the norm, the guards’ jeep was parked on the edge of the runway after flashing the all-clear message, causing a minor disruption in flight operations. At 1.02pm, a SpiceJet flight for Guwahati had rolled into the runway for take off. It started the run when the pilot spotted the jeep.
“He got in touch with ATC and was asked to stop immediately,” an official said.
09/07/08 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Jul 2008, Safety Jul 2008