Probe on into Tuesday’s airport snag

Kolkata: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has started an investigation to find out what caused the snag at Kolkata airport last Tuesday, leaving five domestic flights in the danger of mid-air collision.
The snag continued for a nerve-wracking 30 minutes when the five flights were getting ready for landing.
“We have already seen the radar display and are waiting for the transcripts. Primary investigations revealed that the traffic controllers lost connection with five flights due to some technical snag,” said a DGCA official.
On Tuesday, everything was fine till 9.55 am, when a Jet Airways aircraft on the Bangkok-Kolkata sector entered Kolkata airspace. Suddenly, things started going horribly wrong. The very high frequency (VHF) radio, over which air traffic controllers keep in touch with departing and incoming flights, began to behave in a strange manner. Though communication links with Jet flight 9W65 remained, links with all other aircraft on the frequency disappeared.
DGCA officials are yet to comment on the why the communication system malfunctioned.
02/02/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Feb 2009, Jet Airways Feb 2009, Safety Feb 2009