Chennai: Air India is yet to ground the planes with faulty weather radars though pilots have raised the issue repeatedly. Pilots say the radars are repaired and the flights are back in service every time they report malfunctioning of the system. The equipment is crucial to fly during the rainy season and at night.
Airlines in other countries usually replace the whole radar set instead of trying to troubleshoot. Air India on the other hand is taking a risk by trying to rectify the fault, say aviation experts. TOI had reported how pilots are forced to take turns to look out for clouds on the path while flying at night as weather radars of about 17 A320 aircraft have been found to be erratic.
The radar inside the nose cone sends out microwave pulses to detect rainfall, hail, turbulence, ice crystals, dry ice and snow on the flight path. Inputs from the radar are used along with weather reports from meteorological department to navigate and avoid turbulence. Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) has been raising the issue for the past one year without much success.
01/12/13 V Ayyappan/Times of India
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Airlines in other countries usually replace the whole radar set instead of trying to troubleshoot. Air India on the other hand is taking a risk by trying to rectify the fault, say aviation experts. TOI had reported how pilots are forced to take turns to look out for clouds on the path while flying at night as weather radars of about 17 A320 aircraft have been found to be erratic.
The radar inside the nose cone sends out microwave pulses to detect rainfall, hail, turbulence, ice crystals, dry ice and snow on the flight path. Inputs from the radar are used along with weather reports from meteorological department to navigate and avoid turbulence. Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) has been raising the issue for the past one year without much success.
01/12/13 V Ayyappan/Times of India
