Sunday, May 23, 2010
Gulf News
One can feel the aircraft straining to ensure it does not overshoot short Mangalore runway
Abu Dhabi It certainly has been a tragic incident and many Indian expatriates based in the UAE will mourn the loss of their dear ones in yesterday’s plane crash in Mangalore, India.
Each and every time I have taken a flight to Mangalore it has always been a fearful experience when the aircraft approached the runway and eventually when landing.
For the Bajpe Airport is like a table-top on the hills and one can feel the aircraft straining to ensure it does not overrun the short runway and fall into the adjoining ravines — the airport is situated in a hilly part of this south Indian city.
Pursuit
In fact a few years ago the airport runway was upgraded, made bigger and after a relentless pursuit by a few Karnataka Sangha associations based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Mangalore was connected to the UAE directly by air.
Over the last few years, the air traffic to this port city has increased tremendously with the road connections through the hills between Mangalore and Bangalore, the state capital always in a poor condition due to the wet weather conditions during the monsoons.
With Mangalore close to a few towns in Kerala, many from the neighbouring state are frequent flyers to Mangalore.
In fact, every time I have landed at the Mangalore airport, thoughts of the pilot over-running the runway have always crossed my mind.
Perfect timing
Among friends we have discussed this many times and had always felt that the pilots needed to have perfect timing while landing on the runway to ensure they have the distance to slow-down and then make a turn.
The turning used to be always at the edge of the runway and one could see the deep ravines just a few metres away.
It might take a few months to figure out what exactly caused the crash of the Air India Express flight from Dubai to Mangalore but for me, it has always been a fearful few minutes until the flight grounded to a halt.
history
AIRPORT LAUNCHED IN 1951
The Mangalore International Airport opened in 1951 as the Bajpe Aerodrome when then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru arrived on the maiden flight.
The airport is at Bajpe, about 20km from Mangalore and 350km from the state capital Bangalore.
In June 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had to cancel an event for laying a foundation stone for a $1.06-billion project of the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical as his aircraft could not land there due to bad weather.
The airport’s take-off and landing strip is often called a “table-top runway” as it is located on top of a hill.
The drop, within 500 metres at the end of the runway, is steep and pilots have often considered landing here difficult.
In May 2006, the airport got a second runway made of concrete and it is this runway — 2,450 metres long — that is now being used.
Last year, the government built a new terminal building at the airport, which was formally inaugurated by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa on May 15.
On October 3, 2006, the Air India Express 802 from Dubai became the first international flight to land in Mangalore.
It was the same scheduled operation of which a plane crashed yesterday.
— IANS
By M. Satya Narayan?Senior Reporter
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