Probe into craft go-around

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is probing the circumstances that led three Calcutta-bound flights to hover as the airport’s primary runway was unavailable for landing on July 28.
“We are trying to find out how many flights had to hover and the reason for the unavailability of the primary runway,” said an official.
The primary runway was closed for maintenance on July 28 and flights were operating from the secondary runway. The minimum visibility on the secondary runway, which does not have the Instrumental Landing System, has to be 3,600 metre.
Around 4pm, the air traffic control (ATC) told the ground control that visibility had dropped below 3,600 metre because of clouds and that the main runway had to be made available immediately.
“But it takes at least half an hour for a runway under repair to be made available for flight operations. The basic safety norms have to be adhered to,” said an official. While attempts were being made to open the main runway, ATC sources said, three aircraft bound for Calcutta were asked to “go around” for 15-20 minutes on an average. The runway was opened after 20 minutes, but the weather had improved by then.
09/08/08 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Aug 2008