Bird-hit threat as garbage piles up at airport

Kolkata: Last month, a JetLite flight took a bird hit and scrambled back to Kolkata, one engine in flames. It was a very close shave for the passengers. And the third such scare at NSCBI Airport in a year. Officials blame nearby restaurants that have mushroomed in recent years, but a TOI team spotted an equally potent danger heaps of garbage dumped inside the airport with flocks of birds hovering over them.
The threat of a bird being sucked into the engine is very real for every one of the planes that takes off or lands at Kolkata airport, what with garbage piling up due to airport modernization work. TOI found waste dumped behind the canteen next to the airport's link building.Another heap was seen behind the parking lot opposite the international terminal.
But a study conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India in January blamed the eateries and markets that have sprung up all along the airport's boundary wall from the VIP Road-Jessore Road intersection to Madhyamgram crossing. These, the study said, were responsible for a rise in the number of bird-hits. The report, framed after a JetLite aircraft suffered a bird hit, blamed the nearby municipalities for lack of cleanliness and hygiene.
However, AAI officials admitted on Tuesday that the problem lies within their complex as well. When asked about this danger, Mahesh Kaul, general manager (operations) of Kolkata airport, said, "We have closed some canteens. Soon, we will conduct an inspection and take action against those dumping garbage."
26/02/09 Arpit Basu/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Feb 2009