What is causing mishaps at the Mumbai airport on Tuesdays? Is it just the short
runway or is it a worrying lack of coordination between airlines, the airport operator and the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA)?
Even as four pilots— two each from the Kingfisher and Air India flights involved in Tuesday’s incidents (GoAir pilots were cleared by the DGCA on Wednesday evening)— and two air traffic control (ATC) officials were de-rostered following Tuesday’s events, the buck is still being passed over who is to blame for the accident-prone operations at the airport.
The DGCA said it issued instructions over the telephone to airlines and MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Limited) on Monday that they should suspend operations on the shortened runway “under wet conditions”. But the airport operator and the ATC said they had not received any directive till late on Wednesday. Reportedly, the DGCA’s directive was also issued in writing (on Tuesday evening). “The flight inspection directorate of the DGCA had issued verbal instructions to airlines.But we were not intimated about this,” said an MIAL spokesperson.
On Tuesday, a Kingfisher ATR72-500 skidded off the runway while taxiing, getting stuck in a grassy patch. Just four minutes earlier, at 4.32pm, Air India’s Goa-Mumbai IC 164 bounced twice before landing on the edge of the runway.
Following this, the DGCA de-rostered two air traffic controllers - a radar controller and a surface movement centre operator — on Wednesday.“The ATC officials should have informed the Kingfisher pilot about the ground conditions — that the runway was wet and the Air India flight mishap — which they did not,” says a DGCA official.
The Mumbai air traffic control, however, said that it was the Kingfisher pilot’s fault.“The Kingfisher pilot should have touched-down at the beginning of the runway.But he over-shot by 500 metres thus getting only 1,200 metres for braking action,” said a senior ATC official.
The Mumbai ATC officials said that just before the Kingfisher flight, there were 22 landings on the same ‘short runway’ but there was no problem (apart from the Air India flight).“Srinagar has a 1,666-metre runway and Rajkot a 1,515-metre runway which operate during wet conditions.It was a clear case of bad landing by the pilot,” said another ATC official.
It is still not clear what direction short runway operations will take on the coming Tuesday.“DGCA is undertaking a full review of safety assessment for short runway operations at MIAL and will take appropriate decision,” said Naseem Zaidi, director general of civil aviation. DGCA has also issued show-cause notices to the airlines for alleged violation of its directions regarding wet runway operations.
“All the three airlines have been issued notices for alleged violations of the DGCA directions regarding wet runway operations. All the six pilots of the airlines have been grounded and told to join investigation,” said senior DGCA official.
Kingfisher, meanwhile, denied flouting any DGCA guidelines. “Our flight operations department issued a circular to all pilots and other concerned stakeholders specifying the precautions to be taken for Tuesday’s shortened runway operations at Mumbai Airport,” said the spokesperson for Kingfisher.
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