Close shave: Did weather report misguide Gulf Air pilot?

Mumbai: Most of us take weather predictions with a pinch of salt. For pilots, however, that's not an option, especially during the monsoon. The aviation-specific weather report (called a METAR report) that they get on board their aircraft every 30 minutes is taken very seriously, and it is based on this data that a commander decides, among other things, whether he should continue with a landing or not.
As is the case with all predictions, the METAR report is not expected to be totally accurate, just indicative of what to expect. The pilot of the Gulf Air A-320 with 137 passengers on board which veered off the runway in Kochi and halted nose-down early Monday in slush may not have known that he was going to touch down in blinding rain and strong winds. The accident, which could have led to serious casualties, left only seven people injured mostly from the emergency evacuation, one of them seriously enough to be hospitalized.
The A-320 flying from Bahrain landed at about 3.55am and skidded right to halt more than five metres off the paved surface. About 40 minutes before that aircraft touched down, the commander and co-pilot would have decoded what is called a METAR report that provides wind direction and speed, visibility, cloud cover at different heights, temperature and warns of thunderstorms, rain and haze.
The pilots would have gone through the 3am and 3.30am METAR reports. The 3.30am and 4am METAR reports for Cochin airport were not available on the government website and it is also not known whether these reports were transmitted to the pilots. But the METAR reports for 3am and 4.30am - that is the report issued about an hour before the accident and one issued 35 minutes after the accident - showed good weather.
The 3am report indicates 5 knot winds - acceptable for the size of an A320 - and speaks of clouds at 1000 feet and 800 feet. It ends by saying there will be no significant change in weather in the next hour or so. Similarly, the 4.30am report indicates no surface wind and few clouds, though it says that the sky will be overcast at 800 feet.

"The pilot said that he was suddenly assailed by strong winds and gust of rain after he descended below decision height," said Director General of Civil Aviation Bharat Bhushan. "But the inquiry is still on. So we need to see what the real conditions were," he added.
30/08/11 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: airports aug 2011, Foreign Aug 2011, Safety Aug 2011