Probe ordered into PM's jet communication failure

NEW DELHI: A sudden communication failure between a special IAF jet carrying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the air traffic control at the airport here on Saturday is being probed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), airport sources said on Thursday.

Preliminary reports indicated the likelihood of the problem emanating from the failure of ground equipment. The VHF communication system went dead as soon as the plane, on which the prime minister was returning from Bangalore, touched down, they said.

Alarmed ATC officials re-established links with the aircraft from the IAF's VIP squadron by switching to an alternate frequency, the sources said.

 When contacted, an IAF spokesman said that "the aircraft was in continuous radio telephony (RT) communication with the Palam ATC throughout".

The failure at the crucial post-landing stage could have led to a mishap as the pilots could not have been alerted about which taxiway to take to the parking bay or if there was an aircraft approaching or cruising on the runway or a vehicle was coming on route.

The DGCA is also checking the entire communication equipment installed at the airport, the sources said.

The aircraft of the VIP squadron have a completely separate frequency for communications with the ATC. These planes are equipped with the Quadruple Redundancy System having four stand-by systems that automatically take over if one fails.