Pilots concerned with frequent bird hits, short runway, tall trees at Patna airport

PATNA: Experts say that pilots who operate at Patna airport are often concerned with hazards like bird hits, a short runway and tall trees. Recently 200 passengers in a flight bound to Delhi has a close call as the plane caught fire just after take-off.

An initial investigation has been ordered into the incident that happened at the Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport on June 19 by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. "We will be able to know the exact cause only after completion of the investigation. However, Patna airport has remained a critical spot for pilots.

On one side, there are tall trees that make a landing or taking off a tricky affair," V K Bhalla, former chief of Air India Pilots Union, said.

"The safe emergency landing of the SpiceJet flight was possible due to the cool and calm efforts of both pilots and crew members.

But, I must say that when trees are not removed from one side of the runway, such incidents are bound to happen. Trees invite birds. The investigating team must look into these aspects at the Patna airport," Bhalla added.

SpiceJet in a statement said that the cabin crew suspected a bird hit on engine 1 during rotation of the aircraft just as they took off. The flight was flying from Patna to Delhi with 185 passengers.

"As a precautionary measure and as per SOP (standard operating procedure), the captain shut down the affected engine and decided to return to Patna," it said.

Experts also believe that because of its short runway, the Patna airport is marked as critical.

Only 1,954 metres of the 2,286-metre runway is available for use by pilots for take-off because of location constraints. "Open abattoirs, meat shops and garbage dumps near the airport also invite birds.

The waste dumps are kept clean by the authorities, but I am not aware about the measures taken by the district administration in view of the abattoirs and meat shops," Anchal Prakash, Director of Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport, said.

The airport had made the headline on July 17, 2000, when a Boeing 737 aircraft flying to Delhi from Kolkata flew through a residential colony just after take-off and killed more than 60 people including local residents.

The airport had hit the headlines when a Delhi-bound, coming from Kolkata, ploughed through a residential colony soon after take-off killing more than 60 people, including six local residents. The investigation report ordered by the court of inquiry said that the runway was too short.

Source- PTI