Airline skid: Blame it on the weather or pilots?

The Turkish airline skidding at the Mumbai airport on September 2 is not an isolated incident. On August 29, a Gulf Air flight carrying 137 on board skidded off the runway at Kochi airport, injuring seven. The pilot blamed heavy rains and poor visibility.

Aviation experts, however, maintain that aircrafts have the technology to help pilots make decisions in adverse weather. “Every aircraft has automatic flight information service (AFIS) which gives him minute by minute account of the weather, cloud amount, runway condition, etc.,” said a senior commander from Jet Airways. 

However they caution about the accuracy of the weather reports. “All aircrafts can handle adverse weather conditions but the weather should be reported correctly,” said captain Mohan Ranganath, aviation expert.