Wednesday, July 03, 2019

MP Nalin urges Centre to extend runway at Mangaluru airport

Mangaluru: On a day that Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel raised Saturday’s IX384 incident in the Lok Sabha during zero hour, Air India Express (AIE) declared the stricken B737-800 in its fleet as ‘aircraft on ground’ (AOG). The aircraft that arrived as flight IX384 from Dubai, while turning towards the taxiway, entered the unpaved portion of the strip, apparently due to it being at a high speed, as per the observation of the air traffic control.
V V Rao, airport director, Mangaluru International Airport, told TOI that the aircraft that AIE engineers retrieved on Monday, has been placed on the newly constructed apron of the airport.

This way, the AIE engineers can closely work on the aircraft, and it also ensures that the normal schedule of the airport is not disturbed, he said, adding the aircraft will file a flight plan, once engineers declare it air worthy after exhaustive tests.

An AIE spokesperson confirmed Rao’s prognosis of the aircraft. “It may take at least 7 to10 days before this Boeing 737-800 aircraft is inducted back into service,” the spokesperson said. The flight safety department of AIE is investigating the incident, and will report to the chief of flight safety of the airline. “The Directorate General of Civil Aviation too has carried out a probe after we informed them about it,” the spokesperson said.
The engineering team will thoroughly check the aircraft, and its vital systems and only then give the go ahead for its induction, the spokesperson said. In a related development, Rao said a DGCA team conducted an inquiry, and left after gathering information regarding the incident. “They will submit a report to the ministry of civil aviation and Airports Authority of India will implement their recommendations for the airport, if any, on a priority,” he said.
Incidentally, Nalin in his submission, said Saturday’s incident gave one a sense of déjà vu of the IX812 crash on May 22, 2010, and the August 19, 1981, incident, when an Indian Airlines aircraft overshot the runway and perched perilously over the edge.
03/07/19 Times of India
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