Now, Praful in a midair scare

New Delhi: While on Sunday a plane carrying Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had to take a last minute go-around at Delhi as the runway was not clear for landing, on Saturday aviation minister Praful Patel had a more serious problem.
A private plane, Hawker 850, carrying Patel took off from his constituency Gondia for Mumbai on Saturday afternoon. But just minutes after taking off, one of the two engines developed a snag, started losing power and had to return to make an emergency landing. Industry sources say that the Hawker had ‘serious' vibration and noise, along with the engine problems.
"Just two to three minutes after taking off, I could feel one engine was generating less power than the other. Both the pilot and myself realized the problem at the same time and then I asked him to return to Gondia," Patel, now a veteran of several midair close calls, said.
While the reason for this malfunction will be known after an inquiry is conducted, sources say a computer part that controls engine function had malfunctioned. There were unconfirmed reports that this malfunctioning part was taken from another similar aircraft to operate the hawker for the minister's flight.
Apart from the minister's scare, aviation authorities in Delhi are worried for another reason. Preliminary probe into Sunday's incident when a Jet Airways aircraft from Kolakta to Delhi could not land in Delhi as the runway was still occupied by a foreign airliner that had touched down, has highlighted another major worry — lack of proper knowledge of English among some foreign pilots, which makes it difficult for them to understand ATC instructions.
"The pilot did not follow clear instructions given by ATC to vacate the runway by taking a rapid-exitway designated for him. The pilot instead went past the designated exitway and took another one further down the runway which increased his stay on the airstrip and not clearing it in time for the Jet plane," sources said.
20/01/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Safety Jan 2009