Mumbai: The Juhu airport experienced a three-hour communication breakdown following a technical snag on Sunday morning, hitting helicopter flights, including one lined up for NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal.
Three departures and eight arrivals were delayed after a duty officer in the Air Traffic Control tower discovered at 7.30 am that none of the equipment used to communicate with pilots was working.
Even MTNL landlines and the hotline to Mumbai airport ATC were out. Initially, officials suspected a disruption in power supply, but then traced the problem to the tower’s transceiver which had broken down completely. (A transceiver sends out and receives electronic signals.) Bhujbal, the minister of public works and special assistance, and a team of officials had planned to fly to Nashik to review the drought situation.
04/03/13 Bipin Kumar Singh/Mumbai Mirror
