Table-tops, bird hits: Many tricky runways in India

New Delhi: The Air India Express Boeing that crashed in Mangalore on Saturday veered off the runway after missing the landing threshold — an error that rarely causes a crash. In this case it did because of the runway's unusual configuration. The airstrip sits on a plateau making landing a test of any pilot's skill. But
Mangalore's Bajpe airport isn't the only tricky one in the country and experts warn that more such disasters
are waiting to happen if the burgeoning aviation sector doesn't keep pace with safety norms.
Particularly, the Kozhikode international airport in Kerala, with its table-top runway, comes under the scanner.
The Kozhikode airport has a 2,860 m long runway surrounded by hillocks. There's a valley at the end of the runway as in Mangalore.
Up north in Bihar, Mangalore is waiting to happen at Patna with only 6,330 ft of the 7,500 ft runway available for landing.
A decade-and-half after the first international flight took off from Jaipur, the city's Sanganer airport continues to operate on International Civil Aviation Organization's provisional licence due to non-compliance with norms.
Chandigarh international airport lacks adequate facilities and falls short of safety norms with no night landing facility. Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport, with 80 flights and an average of 5,475 passengers daily, is one of the busiest in the country. It reports the highest bird hits in the country mainly due to slums and the vegetation around it, forcing the authorities to install laser guns to scare away birds.
24/05/10 Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports May 2010, Safety May 2010