AAI finds 101 obstructions at Patna airport

A month after BJP Lok Sabha member Shatrughan Sinha raised the issue of ‘short runway’ at Patna airport and stressed on the “need to take steps so as to avoid Mangalore-type air crash,” the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has identified 101 obstructions on either side of the runway which are dangerous for aircraft landing here.
The obstructions include 3,700 huge trees around the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, high-rise residential buildings, railway cabin, overhead traction lines, mobile towers, a temple, a tall light mast on a burial ground, advertisement hoardings, streetlights and electrical poles.
Besides, the AAI has identified the Secretariat clock tower — the trademark of Patna — as another obstacle which is 135 metres high against a permissible limit of 40 metres.
The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has given the Bihar government a deadline of June 15 to act, failing which it will re-notify the landing distance available, making the airport unfit for operation of bigger aircrafts like Airbus 320 and Boeing 737.
07/06/12 Abhay Kumar/Deccan Herald

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Categories: airports Jun 2012, Safety Jun 2012