Takeoff rule tweak for fog

Delhi: Fog over Delhi airport ravaged airline schedules across India today and prompted the government to relax the rules about takeoff in reduced visibility.
The Centre today lowered the permissible visibility for takeoffs by large aircraft from 175m to 150m, and from 150m to 125m for smaller planes. This will reduce delays without endangering safety, which remains “paramount”, civil aviation secretary S.N.A. Zaidi said after a meeting with airlines, weather officials, airport authorities and the directorate-general of civil aviation.
Under the new rules, airlines will not allow passengers to board till visibility has reached 125m.
The Centre’s move comes amid news that the UK government is planning legislation to be able to fine airports that fail to prepare adequately for adverse weather — a subject that could be relevant to India at a time private airports are coming up in the country.
This morning, no flights took off or landed at Delhi for an hour because visibility was below 50m, the minimum required for landing even if an aircraft is equipped with the category 3B instrument landing system and pilots trained in it.
Airlines cancelled flights to Lucknow, Jaipur, Mumbai, Leh, Amritsar, Patna, Chandigarh, Goa and Srinagar.
27/12/10 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Dec 2010