India’s most slippery runway

NEW DELHI: After near-misses, bird-hits, and radar blinks come the skids. Kochi airport’s runway has had at least four aircraft skids in the last seven months.

The latest scare came on Thursday, say sources, when a Jet Airways flight from Bangalore skidded off the runway during landing. No wonder pilots call the runway a ‘swinging runway’.

In Thursday’s incident, no one was injured but the impact of the skidding was such that the aircraft damaged its wheels and three runway lights.

There have been several incidents in the past where aircrafts have caught fire after skidding and hitting ground gadgets. In July this year, an Airbus 320 skidded while landing at Sao Paolo, killing 200 people.

While Thursday’s incident is being investigated, the Airports Authority of India conducted a detailed runway friction test three months ago. The reports were normal but the problem still remains, says an aviation ministry official.