Safety prod for mosque in flight path

Kolkata: The Airports Authority of India has written to the state government to shift a mosque from the edge of Calcutta airport’s runway as it poses a “safety and security” threat.
“We have requested the district administration to relocate the mosque as it is directly in the flight path, causing safety and security hazards,” airport director R. Srinivasan told Metro.
The mosque, around 25m high, is directly in the path of aircraft landing on the secondary runway. Around 400m of the runway cannot be used by the aircraft because of the mosque located 200m from the edge of the northern end.
“Most flights on the secondary runway land from that side. They run the risk of overshooting the runway as the full capacity can’t be used with the mosque,” said H.N. Mishra, the senior air safety officer (east and north-east) of the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA).
Calcutta airport officials have been urging the state government since 1986 to shift the mosque.
03/05/10 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports May 2010, Safety May 2010