Blame game in risky skies

Calcutta: The cockpit and the control tower are locked in combat, triggering turbulence both in the air and on the ground.
Pilots have blamed “archaic” air traffic control (ATC) procedures followed at Calcutta airport for the recent spate of close shaves, saying that time and information crucial to flight safety are often “lost” in allegedly redundant communication.
Those in the control room counter the allegation by insisting that many pilots are careless and arrogant to the point of ignoring routine questions and instructions.For the passenger, the war of words between the cockpit and the control room can only spell trouble.
A veteran flight commander said the authorities had repeatedly ignored complaints from pilots about the difficulties faced by them while communicating with the city ATC.
The latest in a line of near-misses at Calcutta airport occurred on June 12, when a SpiceJet aircraft scheduled to take off for Delhi around 5.25pm was waiting six feet beyond the “holding point” adjacent to the runway while a Kingfisher plane was just about to land. The pilot of the Kingfisher flight, which was coming from Jamshedpur, was asked to abort landing and circle the airport till the SpiceJet craft backed off six feet.
An official source confirmed that incidents like these were occurring frequently at the city airport.
“In almost all such cases it has been found that pilots are at fault. Several pilots have been put through cockpit familiarisation training in recent times after being found to have made potentially dangerous mistakes,” said a senior DGCA official from Delhi.
“Pilots tend to ignore instructions from the ATC. They are at times careless and at times overconfident,” the official added. A senior pilot contested the allegation, saying most near-misses were the result of “miscommunication”.
29/06/09 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Jun 2009, Safety Jun 2009