30m chimney on flight path poses hazard to safe landings

Chennai: A 30-metre-high chimney at a gasifier crematorium being built by the Alandur municipality less than a kilometre away from the Chennai airport has become a safety hazard for aircraft flying into the airport.
The Airports Authority of India has requested the municipality to reduce the height of the chimney, which, according to airport sources, is dangerously close to the flight path of aircraft that land at the St Thomas Mount end of the secondary runway (runway 30). Since aircraft fly at a low altitude — about 200 ft or lower — while landing, airport authorities have restricted landing and take-off from the secondary runway.
The crematorium is being constructed at Kannan Nagar near Pazhavanthagal railway station, with union government assistance, and the chimney came up less than a month ago.
Unaware that the crematorium lay in a flight corridor, the municipality had not even applied for the mandatory no-objection certificate from AAI, which has restricted high-rise construction (any building exceeding 100 ft height) in the area. The local body though received permission from the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA). It is not clear whether CMDA authorities knew about the proposed construction
of a chimney at the crematorium before they gave the go-ahead.
Construction of the chimney came to the notice of airport authorities about a week ago after pilots reported that it was obstructing the approach to the runway. And AAI acted right away. It has asked the Alandur municipality to reduce the height of the tower by half.
10/11/08 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Nov 2008, Safety Nov 2008