Training helped Air India pilots beat fog

Hyderabad: Every time there is fog in Delhi, the air traffic goes for a six all over the country. But one airline that is not affected is Air India whose pilots are trained to land and take off even when the visibility is near zero.
And all of this is possible thanks to a simulator.
The pilots are being trained to land on Delhi airport's Runway 28 late at night when they can see practically nothing.
"There is hardly anything we can see. You have to take a decision at that point whether I should continue the descent or discontinue it," said Captain Mehboob Bhat, GM (Flight Safety), Air India.
Over the last few years, Air India has trained 50 per cent of its 625 pilots on the CAT III B programme at the simulator at the Central Training Establishment in Hyderabad. This means pilots can land and take off when visibility is just about 100 metres.
So, while most other airlines are forced to cancel or reschedule their flights every time there is fog in Delhi, Air India manages to fly high.
Training a pilot costs upto Rs 15 lakh. Landing in such difficult weather conditions also calls for the highest standards of flying expertise, which is why only pilots with more than 1,000 hours of flying experience are trained to fly in such conditions.
11/01/09 T S Sudhir/NDTV.com

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Categories: Airports Jan 2009, NACIL Jan 2009