‘Airport roof had structural flaws’

New Delhi: It was a fault in its structure that made a part of the roof of the new domestic terminal, 1D, of the Indira Gandhi International Airport blow off on August 21 due to strong winds and leak in several places, said a source at the airport.
Airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) on Tuesday said in a statement that investigations carried out by the four-member committee are still on and the committee has sought time till October 15 to complete its report and suggest remedial measures.
Sources within the inquiry committee have said the extension has been sought because DIAL is yet to provide a detailed report on the structure and design of T1D and the kind of material used in construction.
Initial investigations, however, have revealed the roof had structural faults, sources said.
A day before the deluge, the bolts on the roof had been unscrewed for some repair work and were not fixed properly. This made it easy for the winds to blow away a few panels of the roof, sources said.

On August 21, flight operations at IGI Airport had to be shut for nearly two hours after a heavy downpour for nearly 30 minutes. There was flooding in the new terminal 1D because the ceiling leaked at several places and a part of the roof near Gate 14 had crashed.
23/09/09 Geeta Gupta/ExpessIndia

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Categories: Airports Sep 2009, Safety Sep 2009