New taxiway to help aircraft clear off runway faster

Functioning of the new taxiway N-9 from November 1 is likely to reduce accidents, go arounds and delays in Mumbai airport. At the same time, curbing of these unwanted incidents will save passengers the anxiety of getting delayed.
This new taxiway will help bigger aircrafts to vacate the runway on time and thereby reduce delays in landing and take-offs. At least one aircraft land or take off at Mumbai airport every two minutes.
The older taxiway, Charlie (C), is at such a distance on the primary runway 09-27 that flights landing on the runway barely get the time to slow down, turn and go over it. On October 16 around 9.45 pm, a Jet Airways Singapore-Mumbai flight (9W11) landed on the runway. When the Airbus A330 pilot tried to enter taxiway C in order to vacate the runway, the aircraft went off the track and ventured into a nearby unpaved area. As a result, two of the lights on the runway were broken. A director general of civil aviation (DGCA) team investigated the matter on MIAL’s complaint and cancelled the instructor license of the pilot.
However, according to airport officials, bigger aircrafts like A330, Boeing 777, Boeing 747 have always faced difficulty in vacating the runway. “After landing they cannot slow down so fast and miss taxiway C. They have to take a 180-degree (U) turn, come back and exit through taxiway Charlie. As a result, the runway gets occupied and no landing or take-off is possible till the aircraft goes through the whole process,” he said. Last month, an international airlines flight got stranded on the runway as it missed taxiway C.
With new taxiway in place, bigger aircrafts will be able to vacate the runway without taking a 180-degree turn.
05/11/08 Navita Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports Nov 2008