ILS at Coimbatore airpotrt awaits nod, flight safety at risk

Chennai: Flight safety is at stake at Coimbatore airport where the Airports Authority of India is unable to use the instrument landing system relocated to the extended end of the runway because the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is yet to certify it. Now, flights are diverted when visibility is poor.
An ILS at Tuticorin airport is also awaiting DGCA clearance.
The ILS includes devices that help an aircraft home in on the runway along a pre-set glide path for a precision touchdown. Onboard instruments pick up signals from the ILS to approach the runway, helping pilots to land at night and also when visibility is low.
Smaller airports like Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruchi have ILS.
On Saturday, when visibility was very low a Kuala Lumpur-Coimbatore Air Asia flight had to be diverted to Calicut. With ILS unavailable, the pilot was not able to make a visual approach by looking at the runway lights, said an AAI official. The visibility was around 1,000 feet.
The ILS was relocated along with the PAPI (Precision Approach Path Indicator) when the runway was extended. Once ILS and PAPI are relocated, DGCA should check if the alignment of both the instruments is correct and that they are safe to use.
As there is no approach radar to monitor and guide flights to land and take off at these small airports, ILS is the only help for pilots.
28/11/10 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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

Categories: Airports Nov 2010, Safety Nov 2010