Cable snap blacks out Chennai airport radar for 4 hrs

Chennai: Hundreds of passengers at Chennai airport were put to hardship as flight movements were disrupted for about four hours on Tuesday because of radar failure. The approach radar at the air traffic control (ATC) went blank after an earthmover, working on a linkway between the two runways, snapped an underground cable between the radar antenna and the ATC tower at 9.25am. The connection was restored at 1.13pm after much fretting and fuming in the airport lounge, control room and cockpits.
This is the second time in the past couple of months that earthmovers have snapped the radar cable. "The contractors and work supervisors have been given the layout of the cable. Though the cable runs through a concrete pipe and is protected by another concrete slab, workers continue to plough through it, as nobody is penalised for the damage," said an airport official.
Aircraft movements on the main runway are at their peak from early morning until 11.30am, before the runway is closed until 5pm for linkway work. As the cable snapped during the rush hour, controllers had a tough time doing manual calculations based on radio communication with pilots, to guide flights through landings and take-offs. While two aircraft are normally kept at a minimum distance of eight nautical miles before landing, pilots said ATC kept them up to 30 miles apart, delaying landings.
02/09/09 Times of india

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Categories: Airports Sep 2009, Safety Sep 2009