At Chennai, optical illusion sends incoming pilots on a spin

Chennai: As a Saudia Airlines flight approached Chennai airport to land at the Pallavaram-end of the runway, the pilot spotted, from the air, the wing tip of another aircraft waiting on the taxiway too close to the edge of the runway. The pilot decided not to land and did a go around.
Checks revealed that the aircraft on taxiway Kilo was stopped on the runway holding point marking, and that its wing tip was not too close to the main runway. It was an optical illusion that made the Saudi Airlines pilot think so.
Two more such incidents happened in the last couple of months when pilots of foreign airlines reported runway incursion by flights waiting on the taxiway which connects to the Pallavaram-end of the runway.
Airports Authority of India officials are surprised that pilots are getting the impression suddenly because such a situation was never reported before even though the runway and the taxiway have been in use for several years. They are considering the option of redrawing the runway holding point marking to prevent such incidents from repeating.
"Mostly foreign pilots who are not familiar with the airport terrain get the feeling. We have never got the impression," said a Jet Airways pilot.
Former pilot and air safety expert Captain A Ranganathan said that the "runway holding point markings are correct. It must be only be an illusion."
18/12/10 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Dec 2010, Safety Dec 2010