Summer heat on fliers & fires

Patna: Flying in winter is a pain because of frequent flight delays. The summer is no better, at least for Patnaites. Fewer seats will be available in planes taking off from the city airport as the temperature soars.
The airlines will cut the seating capacity of their aircraft operating from the city in summer months for load penalty factor. Under this norm, the operators have to reduce the weight of planes by leaving some seats vacant for smooth take-off when the temperature is high.
“The aircraft engine has to create a certain minimum thrust while taking off. As the air becomes thinner during summer, the flight captains prefer to reduce the aircraft load for a safe take-off from a short runway so that the necessary engine thrust is available. With reduced weight, the engine requires less thrust. That is why full load flights do not operate during the summer months, especially in the day when the temperature is higher,” said a source in the aviation industry.
The load penalty factor plays a major role at Patna airport because of its short runway. Against the total runway length of 2,286m (7,500 feet), only 1,954m (6409 feet) remains available at the time of take-off because of location constraint of the airport.
Over 12 passengers booked on Jet Airways’ Patna-Mumbai flight (S2 721) today had a taste of trouble the load penalty factor can lead to. They were not allowed to board the plane despite having boarding cards when fight captain Tina Updhayaya told the airline officials that she would not be able to take-off with full load flight as the temperature was high.
28/03/11 Sanjeev Kumar Verma/The Telegraph

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

Categories: Airports Mar 2011, Indian Aviation- In General Mar 2011