"If the pilot is alive, nail him. If he is dead, blame him.."

The blaming of the pilot of Air India Express flight IX-812 that crashed at Mangalore even before an investigation had begun, is a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the deficiencies of the state-run airline and of airport infrastructure. Air India has been cutting costs to avert a serious financial crisis, while Indian airports have been placed under stress as a result of burgeoning air travel both to and within India.
Writing in the Times of India on May 24, air safety expert Captain Mohan Ranganathan commented: “‘After a crash, if the pilot is alive, nail him. If he is dead, blame him,’ goes a saying in our circles. The blame game has already begun even as vital safety deficiencies get swept aside.”
Questions have already been raised about Mangalore airport, which is perched on a hilltop with steep ravines on three sides. The runway on which flight IX-812 had been supposed to land was built in 2006 with an overall length of 2,400 metres. The Runway End Safety Area (RESA) of 60 metres was well short of the 240 meters recommended by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) guidelines.
After noting that Air India management claimed Mangalore airport met ICAO standards, Ranganathan stated: “But the aiming point (the point where the undercarriage of the aircraft is supposed to touch down on the runway while landing) on the runway does not conform to ICAO standards. Also if the overrun area had 90 metres of sand laid out as per ICAO specifications for the runway-end safety area, then isn’t it strange that the aircraft did not slow down?”
In a separate comment, Ranganathan suggested an engineered material arrestor system (EMAS), designed to stop a plane from overshooting the runaway, might have prevented the disaster at Mangalore airport. “Though expensive, EMAS can prevent damage to the aircraft and loss of human lives in case of an overrun,” he said. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has ruled out installing EMAS at its airports on cost grounds.
An article in the Times of India pointed out that Mangalore airport does not have approach radar to assist air traffic control to warn a pilot about altitude, speed and glide path. In the absence of approach radar, a pilot is on his own, using Instrument Landing System signals and his own judgment.
The Indian Commercial Pilots Association has also raised questions about pilot fatigue. In 2008, DGCA rolled back the rest rules it had set the previous year to ensure pilots had more time off between lengthy or tiring assignments, like roundtrip international flights. Two Indian pilots told India Real Time that the decision was taken for commercial reasons: the heavy demand for pilots in the growing aviation sector meant airlines couldn’t afford to give pilots as much rest.
A retired Air India pilot pointed out that while the regulations on Flight and Duty Time Limitations [FDTL], issued in December 1992, prescribed a flying time of nine hours and 12 hours of duty time (inclusive of flying time), they did not take into account the time-of-day factor.
01/06/10 Arun Kumar and Deepal Jayasekera/World Socialist Web Site

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Categories: Air India Budget Jun 2010, Airports Jun 2010, NACIL Jun 2010, Safety Jun 2010