The report of a team attached to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be crucial for the resumption of the operation of wide-bodied aircraft at the Calicut International Airport.
The team led by S. Durairaj, Deputy Director (Operations) of the Aerodrome Standards Directorate in the Southern Region of the DGCA, had conducted an assessment of the facilities, including safety measures, at the airport. Though the officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said the visit of the DGCA team was a routine one, its report will be decisive to resume the operation of wide-bodied aircraft at the airport.
The operation of big aircraft was suspended after the Air India Express flight crash at the airport on August 7, 2020. However, the aircraft, which was involved in the accident, was classified under Code C (medium or short range). The accident killed 21 people including the pilots.
Last year, the DGCA team had carried out a similar inspection . However, the decision to restore the operation of wide-bodied aircraft was put on hold as the Ministry of Civil Aviation waited for the report of a five-member team of Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) which probed the Air India Express crash.
The AAIB submitted its report in September, pointing out that AAI was permitted to recommence wide-bodied aircraft operations at Calicut airport after the installation of transmissometer for Runway Visual Range (RVR) system.
However, at the time of the accident, the RVR instrument had not been installed at the airport. The RVR can significantly enhance accuracy of visibility reporting, leading to better situational awareness of pilots during low visibility, it said.
At the same time, the AAIB report said the AAI had managed to fulfil International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and DGCA certification requirements at the airport for certain critical areas like Runway End Safety Area (RESA) runway lights and approach lights.
Although not directly related to the accident cause, the AAIB report said the availability of runway centreline lights would have certainly enhanced the spatial orientation of the pilots.
Previously, the DGCA had banned the operation of wide-bodied aircraft in the wake of the Court of Inquiry report on the Air India Express Boeing 737 crash in Mangaluru in May 2010. It was in July last year Saudia (Saudi Arabian airlines) resumed the operation of Haj flights. Then three airlines – Air India, Saudia (Saudi Arabian Airlines) and Emirates — had secured permission to operate wide-bodied aircraft.
