Take on blue bulls to take-off night flights

Kanpur: The Chakeri airport authorities will soon have an answer to night landing of aircraft, but they are still clueless on how to tackle the blue bull and peacock menace that has led to mishaps in the past.
The Instrument Landing System (ILS) will become operational at the Chakeri airport in a fortnight. It is sure to increase air-traffic. However, the airport authorities still have no foolproof plan to keep these birds and beasts from straying onto the runway.
The forest cover surrounding the airport provides a safe harbour to the birds and the blue bulls but is a safety hazard for the human beings. In an incident that had highlighted the chaotic and dangerous conditions prevailing on the runways of the country, a 48-seater Air India regional flight had hit a blue bull while landing at the Chakeri airport on February 28, 2008. The 47 passengers on board and four crew members, however, had escaped unhurt.
The Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad flight, CD 7801, had just landed in Kanpur when the incident had occurred. The pilot had pulled the emergency brake after he noticed a `nilgai' (blue bull) on the runway, but the animal had been hit and died on the spot.
"Soon after the incident, the then district magistrate had convened a meeting with the airport authorities to check the menace of blue bulls, but all in vain," said officiating airport controller AK Saxena.
Recently on December 2, 2010, a herd of blue bulls damaged a cable of ILS from various junctions. According to airport officials, repeated requests to the district administration and the forest department to keep the area free from blue bulls and peacocks have fallen on deaf ears.
Dozens of peacocks flying around the airport is a common sight. Though airport authorities have roped in security personnel to chase away birds before a flight lands or takes off, it is not a foolproof measure.
20/12/10 Faiz Rahman Siddiqui/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Dec 2010, Safety Dec 2010