Flight goes missing on radar

Calcutta: Another flight disappeared for half an hour from the secondary radar screen of the city airport on Monday, sparking fears of a mid-air mishap. The authorities blamed the incident on a snag at the airport.
Metro had reported on May 4 how five flights had gone missing from the screen within a span of a few days though the city air traffic control (ATC) had confirmed that all were in the airspace covered by the secondary or the Area South radar in Berhampore, Orissa.
The Singapore Airlines flight from Milan to Singapore vanished from the screen around 1.15am, within Calcutta’s flight information range.
Sources said the Varanasi ATC had no problems tracing the aircraft till it left its flight information range to enter that of Calcutta.
According to the city ATC, radio communication with the pilot remained unaffected. There were around 20 international flights in the vicinity at the time and hence, ATC officials apprehended a mid-air collision. The aircraft reappeared on the radar after around 30 minutes, when it was near Bhubaneswar.
Senior officials, on condition of anonymity, blamed it on snags in the airport’s secondary radar in Berhampore.
The radar, with its monitor at Calcutta airport, covers a radius of around 200 nautical miles and gives the altitude and speed of overlying aircraft.
“Its functioning has never been satisfactory. There are dark zones in its coverage area, with obstacles like hills preventing proper transmission of signals,” said the airport official.
14/07/09 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009, Safety Jul 2009