Bangalore: A pilots’ body belonging to Air India has warned that if the existing weather radar fitted on A320s is not replaced it could result in major accidents.
Claiming that the Bendix weather radar was obsolete, the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA), in a letter to Air India, said that pilots rely on the judgment of other pilots flying in the vicinity by following the weather deviations adopted by them or follow them using display on the TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System). “The weather radars are merely fitted to fulfil the regulatory requirement and serve practically no purpose at all,” Capt T. Praveen Keerthi, General Secretary, ICPA, said.
Air India did not reply to a query regarding claims made by ICPA on the weather radar. “We have had incidents where passengers and crew have been injured as a result of weather related incidents en-route,” Capt Keerthi said. He also drew attention to the fact that global warming puts aircraft without modern equipment at a greater risk.
09/10/12 K. Giriprakash/Business Line
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Claiming that the Bendix weather radar was obsolete, the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA), in a letter to Air India, said that pilots rely on the judgment of other pilots flying in the vicinity by following the weather deviations adopted by them or follow them using display on the TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System). “The weather radars are merely fitted to fulfil the regulatory requirement and serve practically no purpose at all,” Capt T. Praveen Keerthi, General Secretary, ICPA, said.
Air India did not reply to a query regarding claims made by ICPA on the weather radar. “We have had incidents where passengers and crew have been injured as a result of weather related incidents en-route,” Capt Keerthi said. He also drew attention to the fact that global warming puts aircraft without modern equipment at a greater risk.
09/10/12 K. Giriprakash/Business Line
