Firefighters pick holes in airport’s fire services

Mumbai As the Mumbai airport prepares to undergo a transition from public to private hands, the differences in the airport’s 270-strong fire department have led to a section of firefighters alleging that there are glaring loopholes in the working of the key department ever since the airport’s privatisation.
The Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) had recruited a fresh batch of 100-odd firefighters in phases. According to a firefighter at the Mumbai airport, who did not wish to be named, the new recruits are not only inexperienced but they have not received the mandatory Fire Training Certificates (FTCs) for aviation firefighters.
According to an airport official, there are two specialised aviation firefighting schools in the country — Delhi and Kolkata — run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Once a candidate is recruited as a trainee firefighter, he can only undertake full service after receiving an FTC from either of these two schools.
But an MIAL spokesperson refuted the allegation, saying that the MIAL had conducted a 12-week firefighting course for the recruits at the airport itself. “We had conducted the 12-week course for 108 new recruits under the supervision of an ex-principal of the Kolkata school and he was the course consultant,” he said.
“The training was done as per the ICAO standards.”
The firefighting department at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) has a total of 270 staff, of which 150 have been recruited by the MIAL and another 120 belong to the AAI. The latter group is uncertain of its future services at the airport.
The AAI firefighters, however, do not agree with the MIAL. According to one of them, there also exists a lot of irregularities in the entire firefighting setup.
28/03/09 Shashank Shekhar/Express India

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Categories: Airports Mar 2009, Safety Mar 2009