Avoiding goof-ups: Indian airports rely on human eye

Mumbai: Two days before the near-miss at the Mumbai airport on Sunday, a similar incident occurred at Charlotte Douglas International airport in North Carolina, USA.
Two aircraft had lined up for take-off, this time on the same runway at two ends, but a ground-based collision warning system installed at the airport alerted air traffic controllers who, in turn, warned the pilots.
In Mumbai and elsewhere in India, it is the human eye-the air traffic controller's-which has to spot such goof-ups as none of the Indian airports has a ground-based collision warning system.
Aviation experts say the human eye cannot always be relied upon, especially if such errors happen at night, in low-visibility conditions or when it rains.
For the aviation industry here, safety measures come only after disasters happen, the experts say. In India, Air-borne Collision Avoidance System was made mandatory for aircraft only after the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision between a Saudi Arabian Airlines and an Air Kazakhstan aircraft, killing 349 people. "The Indian Air Force also agreed to separate inbound and outbound corridors. The VVIP incident in Mumbai should have been used to introduce new and correct procedures in Mumbai,'' Capt Mohan Ranganathan, an air safety expert said.
The Delhi airport has a Surface Movement Controller Guidance System (SMCGS), which tracks movements on ground and issues potential conflict alerts, but the Mumbai airport depends on nothing more than the human eye and a pair of binoculars for the job.
04/05/09 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: Air India - International Jun 2009, Airports Jun 2009, Jet Airways Jun 2009, NACIL Jun 2009, Safety Jun 2009