Rain can cancel your flight on Tuesdays

Mumbai: If it rains coming Tuesday, or on any of the next 18 Tuesdays, no flights will take-off/land from Mumbai airport for six hours, between 12 and 6pm. According to the new guidelines issued by the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), "Runway 27 A shall not be used during rain and when the runway conditions are wet or damp." Since October 27, runway 27 A (with a length of 1,703 meters as short runway) of the main runway 09-27 is being used for operations every Tuesday.
After the lack of co-ordination in the short runway operation on Tuesdays became apparent in the recent fiascos, the DGCA issued a revised 17-point guideline for the airport operator, airlines and the air traffic control (ATC) on Saturday. Henceforth, not only the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) but even the ATC will have to carry out a joint inspection to determine the condition of the short runway when it rains.
On November 10, after an Air India (AI) plane had damaged the runway edge lights, the pilot of a subsequent Kingfisher flight had not been warned of the damage, as result of which the plane skidded.
15/11/09 Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports Nov 2009