Careless digging fails VOR at airport

Chennai: Careless digging continues to affect sensitive aviation communication equipment at the Chennai airport.
On Tuesday, the VOR (VHF Omnidirectional Range) equipment that helps arriving aircraft home in on the airport failed for almost an hour after construction workers snapped a power cable to the transmitter while digging.
Airport sources said that the VOR was not available between 5 pm and 6.30 pm.
However, flights were not delayed or disrupted because the radar was functional and modern aircraft have onboard equipment that can calculate the distance to an airport using inputs from radar. VOR is mandatory at all airports because it helps aircraft locate and identify the airports.
Though modern systems are available, air routes are still defined in straight lines from one VOR ground station to the other.
"It is bad to have a blank instrument in the cockpit while flying. Such equipment is sensitive and the airport authorities should take care that it does not fail because of such reasons," said a pilot.
An Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said that the snapped cable was rectified within a short span and that the incident did not affect flight services.
21/05/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports May 2009