For the last few days due to foggy conditions in the northern part of India, the flight schedules have gone haywire. Along with that, the news of various airlines flouting safety norms is also surfacing, especially about the airlines allowing pilots to fly aircraft that have not been cleared for operating in poor visibility conditions at the airport during landing and takeoff. In practice and reality, most commercial planes are capable of landing in thick fog, but it can depend on the type of aircraft and the facilities associated with the runway at the airport. The low-visibility landings must use the aircraft’s automated systems that interact with the airport’s instrument landing system. This is the array of metal poles at the end of a runway that generates a radio beam for aircraft to follow.
Pilots who are CAT-II compliant are allowed to land when visibility is from 25—550 meters. CAT-III A and B-compliant pilots can land when visibility is even 50 meters.
A few days back, A social media user posted a video of IndiGo Goa- Delhi passengers “having dinner just next to IndiGo plane” on the tarmac of Mumbai airport. This video went viral in no time. The tarmac is used for car/bus transfers that go directly from/to the plane in the position where it is parked when it has landed or is ready to depart. Having dinner on the tarmac is a violation of AVIATION SAFETY norms.
In the posted video, people could be seen sitting on the airport tarmac, eating and sharing food, while some could be seen using their mobile phones and resting, right next to the plane.
Now, what exactly happened with the Goa- Delhi IndiGo flight 6E2195. Due to foggy conditions at Delhi airport, the flight was considerably delayed at the Goa airport itself. Flight 2195 landed at Mumbai airport at 11.21 pm on Sunday (14th Jan 2024) due to diversion. The airline allowed the passengers to disembark on the tarmac and then proceed to flight 6E2091-the flight they were supposed to take next. The aircraft was allotted a remote bay instead of a Contact Stand, an aircraft parking stand that is suitable for walking passengers to and from an aircraft from an allocated boarding gate. This further added to passenger woes and deprived them the of opportunity to avail basic facilities like restrooms and refreshments at the terminal. That’s why the tired passengers sat on the tarmac and started eating.
On Tuesday (16th Jan 24), the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo Airlines and Mumbai International Airport over the viral video that showed passengers sitting and eating on the tarmac.
Without waiting for the reply on the show cause notice, BCAS yesterday imposed a fine of Rs 1.2 Cr on IndiGo over this incident. Besides a total of Rs 90 lakh fine was imposed on the Mumbai airport operator of Mumbai International Airport Ltd over the incident- Rs 60 lakh by the BCAS and Rs 30 lakh by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Separately, the DGCA has slapped a penalty of Rs 30 lakh each on Air India and SpiceJet for their failure to comply with the rostering of pilots for operating flights in low visibility conditions. It means that both Air India and SpiceJet allowed pilots, who were not compliant with CAT-IIIA and B, to fly in low visibility conditions, endangering the safety of passengers.
Friends, this is how the airlines are treating their passengers after charging a hefty price for tickets. It only means that these airlines are not equipped to handle the emergency conditions like landing and takeoff in foggy conditions. They do not offer any services when the flights are delayed and they treat passengers badly, these operators and their staff do not care about passengers’ needs.
Every year during winter, there is always heavy fog in the north. Why can’t these airlines have different Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) during winter months? The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA) should act tough with these errant airline operators, and I think this imposition of heavy fines is a step in the right direction. The Airlines and Airport operators should stop giving the excuse of foggy conditions for the delay every winter, as foggy conditions are there in every part of the world, but this type of chaos only happens here.
Waiting for your feedback on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
18th January 2024