Flights to and from Northeast fumble in blind zone

Flights between Calcutta and the Northeast are not only among the shortest but also short on safety, passing through stretches of airspace where pilots are caught between two air traffic control towers that aren’t even on talking terms.
“Around 5,000 people board flights between the city and various destinations of the Northeast every day. unaware that luck and piloting skills are their only insurance along stretches of Bangladesh and Indian airspace where communication methods are primitive and radar surveillance is non-existent,” said a senior representative of a private airline.
Danger No. 1 is apparently the lack of communication between the Calcutta and Dhaka control rooms despite all flights to the Northeast flying over Bangladesh airspace.
Even after a pilot negotiates that stretch safely, he or she can’t afford to relax.
“Apart from Guwahati, no other airport in the Northeast has radar surveillance. So voice communication with the ATC is the only lifeline available to pilots,” the airline official said.
With Guwahati, voice communication by VHF (very high frequency) equipment is often a problem because of signal disruption caused by the hilly terrain.
“When that happens, a pilot needs to contact Agartala ATC to convey a message to us, which in this day and age is ridiculous. We have been requesting Delhi to install a radar in Agartala for the last eight years but nobody’s listening,” said an official at Borjhar airport in Guwahati.
Not for nothing does a veteran like Capt. Sarvesh Gupta of Jet Airways find flying to and from the Northeast “stressful”.
15/02/11 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Feb 2011, Safety Feb 2011