If you felt your recent flight landing at Tirupathi was a bit shaky, you may not have been totally wrong.
According to the list of disciplinary actions taken by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), firefighting personnel were found handling air traffic control at the Tirupathi airport during a checking earlier this year.
According to AAI's list of suspensions, Deputy General Manager in charge of Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Tirupathi was placed under suspension for "deploying non-ATC personal for handling live Air Traffic."
The finer details of his offence included "issuing unauthorized orders to Fire Staff to handle air traffic control etc. at Tirupathi airport" and "mismanagement of trained manpower." He was placed under suspension in February this year, and a charge sheet has been issued. His suspension has since been revoked.
02/01/13 Vijay Sharma/RTN Asia
