National
Fog will still delay Indian carriers
By Gargi Parsai
NEW DELHI, DEC. 17. Despite installation of the new Category III-A Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the IGI airport, fog delays and flight diversions remain imminent as Indian carriers are not equipped to take advantage of the state-of-the-art system.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is running trials on the Raytheon-installed system which will be inaugurated by the Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, on December 22 at the IGI International Airport. The new system which enables pilots to land when Runway Visual Range (RVR) visibility falls below 200 metres has been installed at an estimated cost of about Rs. 43 crores. The system includes new approach lights at the runway and stand-by generator facility.
However, sources indicated that if visibility falls below 400 metres neither Indian Airlines, nor Jet Airways or Sahara Airlines will be able to land their flights as none of their aircraft is equipped to land under such visibility. Their pilots are also not trained on that system. For below 200 metres Cat-III-A visibility, none of the three airlines is equipped.
Consequently there are likely to be diversions and delays, though to a lesser extent. On the Category-II system installed in 1999, only upto 50 per cent aircraft/pilots of the domestic carriers are geared to handle. The Boeing 737-200s and Airbus A-300 and even Airbus A-320 with the Indian Airlines are not equipped for landing under Cat-II visibility conditions. The new generation Boeings with Jet Airways are equipped, but not all its pilots are trained on Cat-II facility to land under fog conditions. The worst affected cities will be Delhi, Amritsar, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jammu and Srinagar.
The Cat-III-A system will enable equipped international carriers to land at the main runway 28 at a descending height of 50 ft when visibility is below 200 metres.
The AAI has issued NOTAM about the new system on December 12 and put it under trial. The certification for the Cat-III-A system came from the International Civil Aviation Organisation in November.
The Indian carriers may not be able to land their aircraft under Cat-III-A system as the pilots who have been trained to land at Cat-II visibility need at least one year's experience before they graduate to Cat-III-A system, sources said. ``The certification to pilots is a gradual progression.''
However, in the case of international carriers, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will accept the certification granted by the DGCA of their respective countries for Cat-III-A landings.
As such, the diversions due to fog of international airlines would be reduced this year.
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